Rainbows & Storm Clouds the Prequel, Part I
by alexajaye
Summary: Companion to Rainbows and Storm Clouds. This is the first in a series of "outtakes" that chronicles the relationships of Carlisle and Edward before they met, dated and then married.  Starts with Carlisle and Charlie, both teenagers. Slash to start.  M.
1. Hurricane Season

_**Okay, so I know **_**Rainbows _is only just getting started, but I think it was something like a flood gate. Once I started this, I couldn't stop._**

**_So, this is the first prequel-y outtake, and it's in Carlisle's point-of-view. This takes place about sixteen years before the beginning of _Rainbows, _but I'm hoping to give a little more insight to my characters, and the choices that led them to where they are in the main story. _**

**_I'm probably going to have quite a few of these, but updating will be up to you. Don't worry. These won't interfere with the main story._**

**_Also, think back all the way to chapter three of_** **Rainbows _when Carlisle and Garrett were talking about Charlie? Yeah._**

**_Here we go!  
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><p><em><strong>Hurricane Season<strong>_

It's five-thirty, and I keep looking at the clock of my father's Mercedes e320 to make sure I'm not early. I knew he would be here, but I wasn't expecting the rest of the soccer team to be with him. Even the coach is here. I didn't know this was supposed to be a full-on practice, but I can't leave. I've been watching him the last couple of months — knowing what I am and what he is, and I'm not dicking out now.

The coach whistles them all out of the last scrimmage, and he moves away from the pack to get a cup of water. This is my chance.

I get out of the car and shut the door without thinking of what I'll do when he sees me. I'm only seventeen. He probably hasn't noticed how I've been keeping tabs on him. He probably doesn't know that I've memorized his schedule so I can see him even though he's a senior and I'm not.

He's standing by the water cooler alone. I keep an eye on the other players knowing I should feel mortified about what I'm doing and the fact that I'll have an audience in the process.

"Cullen, what are you doing here?"

His deep, gruff voice breaks me from my contemplation. I can't turn and run. It's now or never.

He's looking at me from the other side of the fence, his brown hair whipping in the gusting winds. My own blond hair is following the gale-force as well, and all I can think about is touching his hair.

Absently, I'm aware of the fact that we're all under a hurricane watch. It's normal weather for South Carolina.

My mouth is dry, and I'm having trouble forming the words I've been practicing for days.

"Fuck, kid, would you come on already?"

Reality slaps me in the face, and I chance a look over his body. His practice shorts are, well, short, and I can see the bulge curving in his crotch. The shirt he's wearing only brings attention to the broad span of his chest. I look at him, and he smirks, waiting.

"I just wanted to ask you something," I say cryptically.

His dark brown, thick eyebrows furrow with amusement. "Really?"

I nod.

"What's your name again? Carl? Cal?"

"Carlisle. I have AP English the same time you do."

He nods. "Ah. Right. Well, listen, Carlisle, try-outs were in June before the start of the school year. Better luck next year."

He turns away to go back to the rest of the team.

"I'm not here about try-outs," I yell. "I came to talk to you."

He stops and looks at me — really looks. I can see I've gotten his attention, but before he can say anything, the coach interrupts.

"Swan! Get back over here. You're mine for another hour."

At the mention of his last name, I'm reminded of the first time I heard it in the English class we share. He's not a dumb jock like a lot of the other guys on the team. He can actually recite Shakespeare, and he knows the difference between sentence fragments and run-on sentences. He's a lot smarter than most people think.

With a glare in his dark brown eyes, he shoots me down from the unasked question in my own blue eyes.

"Don't come back around here," he warns. "Go on. Get out of here."

I don't hesitate, leaving before any of the tears in my eyes have a chance to fall. My father's car never looked like a haven more than it does now.

I feel so stupid. Of course he would shut me down. He's the captain of the soccer team for God's sake. I'm just a nobody.

I drive home in tears. I'm a friggin' baby, okay? I feel like my cat just died. I don't even know enough profanity to yell it to the wind for making me feel like a loser.

My sister Rosalie is sitting on the porch of our three-story plantation house when I pull into the drive. She's twelve, and her blond hair is still in pigtails. She looks a lot like me, but that's where most of the similarities end.

"Dad needs you to board up all the windows," she says as soon as I get out of the car.

She's holding a orange striped kitten in her lap, idly stroking his fur. As usual, she doesn't have a care in the world.

"Where's Jasper?" I ask of our brother, her twin.

She shrugs. "I don't know."

I huff as I pass her. "Fine."

The door is open before she speaks again. "Hey, are you okay?"

_No._ "Yeah."

"You look like you've been crying."

I know she's not teasing me the way Jasper would. Despite him being younger than me, he acts like a macho jerk. And he never wastes an opportunity to rub it in my face that I cry — a lot. But Rosalie is different.

Even though we're different, I know Rosalie is genuinely curious about my behavior.

"It was that guy wasn't it?" she asks. "What's his name again?"

"Charlie," I answer.

"I'll beat him up if you want," she offers with a small smile.

She nudges my arm, and I'm smiling again.

"It's okay," I say.

"He doesn't know what he's missing," she assures me.

I wrap my arm around her. "Thanks."

She shuffles away from me. "Ew. Boys have cooties!"

She shoots off toward the house and hurries inside. I laugh and follow her to find my father.

The rest of the afternoon is quiet as my father and I carry plywood around the house to board up the windows. The hurricane watch is upgraded to a warning over the radio, and we're stocking the basement with as many gallons of water and non-perishable foods as I can find.

I'm gathering blankets and collecting pillows when my father calls me from the front of the house. Jasper and Rosalie are nowhere in sight, and I pause for a minute before moving out of the basement to find my father.

Shock hits me in the face when I see my father standing there talking to Charlie. I don't know what to do even after they both looked at me.

I'm confused, and I can't move from the spot where I've stopped.

"Carlisle," my father calls, and I look at him. "You have a visitor. Come down here."

I step slowly down to where they're standing.

What am I supposed to do?

My father doesn't say anything as he leaves me alone with Charlie. For nearly a minute afterward, the only sound is the gusting wind and crashing waves in the distance. Our house is actually on the beach, but it's survived more storms than my father can admit. We're all hopeful it will survive the coming storm with as much as possible so we won't have to rebuild any of it.

He opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.

"What are you doing here?" I ask — more like plea.

He lifts his hands to his waist, and I notice he's wearing jogging pants instead of his practice shorts. I look at him full-on, seeing his hair wet.

"You really thought I was gonna do this on the field with the whole team watching?" he shot back.

Blood rushes to my face, and I know I'm blushing. He steps closer to me, and though I want to back away from him, I can't.

"You got guts, Cullen. I'll give you that much. You a sophomore or a junior?"

"A junior," I reply. I can barely raise my voice above a whisper.

"How did you know?"

His words are cryptic, but I know what he's asking me. I shrug, and he steps closer.

"I don't know," I say. "It wasn't easy. After you broke up with Rene and she started telling people — "

"I know what she said, Cullen. She's a lying bitch. That's all I want to say about that."

I swallow and start again. "I started watching you. You didn't start dating another girl, like a lot of the other guys on the team would. You actually listen in English class, and Mr. Berty always calls on you when he's asking about our assignments. I just knew."

"So you thought you'd try to prove your theory at the field in front of the coach?" His question sounds accusing, but I look up and see a smile on his face.

"Sorry about that. I just didn't know where else to find you. I — "

"It's okay, Cullen." He pauses, looks around and steps closer to me. "Carlisle. Man, that is a weird name. Anybody call you anything else?"

Astonished at how him saying my name makes my knees weak, I purse my lips. "My little sister calls me Carlie. But only when it's just the two of us."

"You're close to her?"

I nod.

"I don't have any siblings."

Again, I nod. "I know."

The gusting wind is stronger now as we're standing just outside earshot of my house, and a huge storm is rumbling off the coast threatening to bear down on us. But the air feels electric, and I can feel a current running between me and Charlie.

"I should go," he says. "My dad's probably getting our house ready too. But, um, I don't have practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. And then we're in off-season after the 31st. If you want, there's a spot we can go."

Stunned, I can't do anything but wonder why he's offering me this. Technically, we did just meet, and I did nearly out him in front of the entire soccer team. But I can't deny that I want to be alone with him. "Do you want to?" I ask.

He smirks. "I wouldn't be suggestin' it if I didn't want to, Cullen. Seriously, haven't you done this before?"

Embarrassed, I shake my head. "No."

I can tell he's surprised, and he looks around again before slowly reaching for my hand that's out of the view of my house.

"I want to," he assures me. "Like I said, you got guts. But only a couple of people know I'm, well, playing for my own team. So I want to keep it that way at least until I graduate. Have you ever been with a girl?"

"What, like, sex?"

He nods.

"No," I admit. "I mean, I kissed a girl when I was fifteen, but it didn't really . . . I didn't really like it."

He steps an inch or two closer. "And a guy?"

I have to be honest with him. "Only in my dreams. And lately . . . all I dream about is you."

Amusement causes a smile to spread across his face. "Do you want to satisfy your curiosity before we get to the heavy stuff?"

Chills wrack my body at the realization of what he's saying, and I'm paralyzed as I stand there in front of my house.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, charging the air with desire and surrender. I know the storm isn't that far away since we've been under watches and warnings the last few days in anticipation. Most people who aren't from around here have all left. But us locals are used to this, and it's business as usual for us. Local restaurants and stores all have sand bags ready for the flooding, and with it being a Tuesday, there have only been a few absences from school. The teachers are used to it.

"How will we do that?" I ask, feeling like an idiot despite knowing a little about what he's saying.

Even with the storm coming, he's relaxed, like we have plenty of time. He looks around again, tipping his head toward the house and then the dark beach beyond it. We're about to move away from the porch when my father comes out the front door.

"Both of you get inside," he commands. "There's a storm coming."

His warning sounds immediate, and despite it not evening raining yet, I know he's been through quite a few of these. I glance at Charlie, and even though he was getting ready to leave, he shrugs and follows me to the porch.

"You can call your father inside," my father says to Charlie. "Elise is in the kitchen making dinner."

He nudges us both inside, closing the front door and putting the deadbolts on.

My mother is making lobster tails and crab cakes like we're not getting ready for a tropical storm, and when I step into the kitchen with Charlie, she looks up and smiles.

"Oh, I didn't know you were having company, sweetie," she laughs.

I blush again, glancing at Charlie. "This is my mom," I say to him. "Mom, this is Charlie Swan. He's, um, a friend from school."

She steps away from her preparation area at the side of the sink, wiping her hands on her red paisley apron and then extending her hand to his. "Elise Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you're hungry."

He smiles big. "Starving."

"Mom," I interrupt, "Charlie needs to call home. I guess it's too bad out there, and Dad told him to stay here."

"Oh, of course. Phone's just over there," she points.

The lights flicker then, indicating the power fluctuating in the strong winds, and I gesture to the corded phone hanging on the wall.

He doesn't say anything to me, moving to the phone and dialing quietly. He talks to his father, who's the Chief of Police in town, saying he's stuck on the beach at my house and should be fine riding out the storm here. There's no argument from his father, and he hangs up after a few minutes.

"All set."

My mother smiles. "Wonderful."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he offers, glancing at me and clearly not interested in helping my mother with dinner.

She waves him off. "Oh, don't be silly. I've got everything under control. Dinner should be in probably another half-hour or so. Carlisle, darling, why don't you show him around? He might be here for a little while."

My nerves are on edge standing in the kitchen with my mother and the boy I just tried to ask out on a date. Charlie smiles, and I back out of the kitchen with him.

"So," he says, "show me around. Start with your room."

My eyes widen, but I can't refuse him, moving to the stairs and then leading the way to the second floor where my room is. Rosalie's door is closed, and I wonder if she's in there. Jasper's door is standing wide open, and I can hear him playing a video game. My room is across the hall from his, and I have to slip inside the open door as carefully as I can without him noticing.

Charlie follows and shuts my door, looking around the expanse of my room. A few years ago, we remodeled the house, removing the wall between my room and the guest room so it could all be mine. I have as much furniture in my room as my parents do in theirs, and we even attached my room to the bathroom on the other side of the guest room.

"This all yours?" he asks, observing my bed, the chairs and couch across from it and the doors that lead to the deck outside.

"Yeah," I respond sheepishly. "We remodeled a few years ago. We hardly ever had guests, and I was fourteen. I think I begged my dad all winter for him to make my room bigger, and he got a bonus at work, so we spent all summer that year knocking down a wall and redoing the floors. It was the biggest project we ever did together, and I — "

"Oh, shit, do you really think I care about all that?"

I bite my tongue and shut up.

He paces around, looking at my stereo system and picking up a cd sitting on the table next to it. "The Rolling Stones, huh?"

I can't say anything back, watching him go through the rest of the cd's on the table next to my stereo. Then he moves to the book shelves against the far wall of my room across from my bed.

"Fuck, you read a lot, don't you?"

"My dad has a restoration business in town too. He brings me all the books he can't restore, says they're probably worth a lot of money in case I have to pay my own way through college."

He nods and fingers a copy of Treasure Island without picking it up. "That all he does?"

I shake my head, feeling the pull toward him getting stronger as I move closer to him. "No. He does all kinds of things. He inherited his father's estate when I was five, and he used it to help the town. He also has a lot of places where he puts his money, and it makes more money for him to — "

"You ramble a lot, don't you?"

I gulp. "Only when I'm nervous."

He grins and moves closer to me. "You're nervous."

I glance down the front of his body. He's wearing a different shirt from the one he was wearing in practice, and I can still see the bulge of his crotch. Without speaking, I nod.

He's less than a foot away. I can feel his body heat encroaching on my own personal space, and even though I would usually like to keep my own space uninhabited, I want him closer.

"Aside from that girl you kissed when you were fifteen," he says in a low, deep voice, "you ever kissed anybody else?"

I shake my head.

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I'm not very experienced in things like this. My mother is an absolutely horrible person to talk to about stuff like this, and not just because she's a girl. She's on the PTA board at school, and if I asked her what I'm supposed to do because I think I had a crush on my science lab partner who's a boy, I think she might have a nervous breakdown. Even at seventeen, I know she wants grandkids, and it's partially my job to give them to her. We joke, and I tell her to keep her eyes on Rose, but really, I'm her oldest.

I don't want her to feel like she's failed with me where that stuff is concerned.

Only five or six inches separate me and Charlie now, and we're almost the same height. He lowers his eyes, and I know he's scoping out my body. I'm not ashamed to say that I spend time working out at the gym in town. My dad half-owns it, so even though I'm under eighteen, the guy who runs it still lets me use the equipment upstairs. I'm not going out for any triathlons any time soon, but I swim four times a week. And there's a bike with my name on it in the basement I ride a few times a week.

Charlie lays his hand over my arm, and I shiver slightly. He seems to like that and smiles. Then he touches my chin and lifts my head so he can see my face.

"You're kinda hot," he says softly.

My knees get weak again, and I can feel his warm breath on my face.

"Too bad for all those girls, I guess."

The tip of his nose touches mine, and then his upper lips brushes along mine. I don't know what to do with my hands, but something in my brain clicks on, and before I know it, I'm backing away from him.

"Wait," I whisper.

His thick eyebrows furrow with confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I've never done this before," I reiterate. "You obviously have. I'm not some toy you can play with and then throw away. And if you don't want anyone to know this about you, then I would probably end up getting disowned if my own parents found out."

He chuckles, and I'm suddenly mad.

"This is not a joke to me," I shout.

He holds up his hands in retreat. "Okay. All right. Jesus. It's not a summit for World Peace. Don't you want me to kiss you?"

I exhale, clenching my hands into fists over and over. "Yes, I do. But I'm not stupid. And if you think I'm gonna let you waltz in here and screw me over, you can get the hell out of here. I don't give a crap if there's a hurricane out there."

Still smiling, he steps closer to me with his hands still up in front of him. "Relax. I didn't mean to make you think anything serious was gonna happen. This is obviously your first rodeo, and that's cool. I can dig it. Just relax. I mean, your parents are downstairs, and I'm not stupid either. It's . . . It's just a kiss, Cullen."

Again, I can feel his breath on my mouth.

"Put your hands on my waist," he instructs.

All I know to do is follow his lead, lifting my hands to his waist. Instantly, I can feel the waistband of his jogging pants, and another detail becomes obvious as I discover that he isn't wearing any underwear. My heart is in my throat, pounding against my head and making me dizzy as he inches closer to me.

"You got guts, Cullen," he whispers, touching the tip of my nose with his again and laying his hands over the sides of my chest.

I'm sure he can feel my pulse racing, and my breathing is quickly following.

"I wouldn't play games with somebody with guts like yours."

His upper lip brushes mine, and then his tongue snakes out to touch my lower lip. Chills wrack my body again, and I can't think of anything but where my hands are and where his hands are. I can't think of where I'm standing or what I'm supposed to doing. I just want him to kiss me.

Other parts of my body are reacting to his closeness, and while blood is still rushing to my face, it's also pulsing through my chest and my stomach and my cock. No one's ever caused a reaction like this, and I'm quickly losing control of my senses.

He smells like soap, grass and leather, and these prove to be aphrodisiacs to my mind. Clouded, wonderful images fill my brain as he licks my lips and brushes his lips along them. No sound but that of my own breathing fills my ears, and he closes his lips around my upper lip with more simplicity than I think anyone's capable.

Gently, his tongue makes contact with mine, and I gasp for air more loudly than intended. There's no hesitation on his part as he lifts his hands to my face and holds me closer. My groin is pulsing hard now, and with my hands on his waist, I instinctively pull him closer until I can feel him against me.

We're moving too fast. I know it, but I can't stop him.

His tongue fights for domination over mine, but I can't give him anymore control than he already has. His lips are strong and warm and amazing. No one else's lips could ever feel like this. He's the first boy I've kissed, but still, I love the way his lips feel kissing mine.

Suddenly, he stops and lays his forehead against mine. "Damn, Cullen. I thought you said you never did this before."

I shake my head. "I haven't. But I'm a quick study."

He chuckles. "You don't say."

A knock on the door interrupts us, and my mother's voice follows.

"I hope you boys are ready for dinner. Come on down before the power goes out."

He leans back and looks at me.

I can't believe what I just did. I really just kissed a boy, and not just any boy. I just kissed Charlie Swan. He's a senior and the captain of the soccer team. His father's the Chief of Police, and his mother's the PTA president.

And I just kissed him.

The little grin on his face tells me it's okay, and I call out to my mother.

"We'll be right there."

I hear her laugh. "Okay, baby."

But for another minute, neither of us move.

"You gonna yell at me again?" he asks playfully.

I blush and grin myself. "Not right now."

He nods. "Good. Let's not overanalyze this, huh? When all this is over, there's a potential that I might want to see you again. So let's just go eat," he says as the lights flicker again.

The thought of facing my parents after this shuts down any hope of feeling like I might have to go to bathroom and take care of a little business. Charlie looks to be in more control of his body than me.

I lead the way to the door then, stepping into the hall as Rosalie and Jasper come out of their rooms. Jasper gapes at Charlie, and Rosalie slits her eyes suspiciously.

I don't say anything as I walk on downstairs with Charlie, but Jasper opens his mouth.

"You're Charlie Swan, aren't you?" he asks shaking his shaggy blond hair from his hazel eyes. "You're on the soccer team, right?"

"You got it, kid. What's your name?"

Confidence swells Jasper's chest until he looks like a blowfish. "I'm Jasper Cullen. I tried out for the seventh grade team last year. Coach made me center midfielder."

"Awesome."

"What are you doing here?"

Air catches in my throat as I walk. It takes all my self-control not to stop as I begin my descent down the stairs.

"Well, kid, I'm not going so good in English, and your bro here is gonna help me this year since I'll be graduating in seven months."

I glance back, impressed with Charlie's ability to improvise on the spot, but Jasper looks unconvinced. I'm good in English, but good enough to tutor someone? Even I know it's not that good of an idea.

But Charlie's a lot older than Jasper, and my little brother obviously looks up to him as a role model. How else would he know Charlie's on the soccer team?

Rosalie hurries around them to my side and grabs my hand. "I need to talk to you," she demands, pulling me out of their way. Charlie keeps walking, smiling at Rosalie and leading Jasper down the remainder of steps.

My sister doesn't say anything, pulling me back up the stairs to the second floor until we're alone.

"What's he doing here?" she hisses, attempting to keep her voice down.

"He showed up here half an hour ago," I shrug. "Why?"

"You came home crying because of him," she reminds me. "Must I always be your conscience. He's a jock! What makes you think he's not gonna use you and throw you away?"

"What do you know about any of this?" I gripe. "You're a kid. I can take care of myself."

"You're my brother," she growls softly, unwavering. "And it doesn't matter if he's a science geek or president of the 'I'm just a stupid loser' club. You have no idea what you're doing. I don't know a lot about boys, but neither do you."

I breathe deep standing there with my twelve-year-old sister as we have a conversation I should be having with my parents. "Rose, come on. I just met him. And I'm not stupid. I don't know what he's doing here, but there's a hurricane outside, and it's probably a good idea that he doesn't go out there. Right?"

She folds her arms over chest stubbornly, purses her lips and rolls her eyes. "Fine. But if I see him making moves on you, I'm giving him a piece of my mind. Nobody messes with my brother but me."

"I'm touched."

She huffs and grabs my arm. "Come on, you crazy idiot," she demands, pulling me back down the stairs.

Dinner is awkward to say the least, especially with both my mother and father on edge about the brewing storm blowing outside. So far, it's only raining, but the wind is howling and the lights keep flickering.

Rosalie practically drills Charlie, asking him covert questions about soccer and school and why he decided to come to our house in the midst of a hurricane warning. Despite not having any real experience with Rosalie, Charlie is amazingly adept at answering her questions without revealing anything crucial about our kiss to my parents or my brother.

"So you're a senior, and you take AP English, and you need a tutor," Rosalie clarifies. "Why take AP English if you need a tutor?"

Charlie grins over his crab cakes. "Well, I want to get into a good college. And my dad's the Chief of Police. I gotta make him look good. All those school marms love it when you have all the hard classes on your records."

Rosalie glances at me as I sit next to her. I only shrug.

"How many plays did Shakespeare write?" she demands.

He squints. "Thirty-eight."

"How many sonnets did he write?"

"One hundred fifty-four," he answers without hesitating.

"And what about — "

"Rose," my mother exclaims. "What is wrong with you?"

She shrugs. "What? I want to make sure my brother is doing a good job. Because if he doesn't then Charlie won't get into a good college."

My mother raises an eyebrow and purses her lips. "That's still no reason to interrogate him, young lady. Now eat your dinner."

Rosalie huffs loudly, hunching in her chair and picking up her fork. Half her lobster tail is gone, and she's already eaten one of her crab cakes.

Halfway through dinner, the power goes out, and without fail, my mother rises and begins lighting candles deposited around the room, including two candelabras on the dining table. Instantly, I'm staring at Charlie in the glowing yellow light, and something stirs in my groin. I think of giving Rose a bath when she was a baby and the last time our nana visited in an attempt to keep the stirring to a minimum — at least while I'm sitting at a dining table with my parents and siblings.

My father rises after several minutes and comes back with a battery-operated radio. Suddenly, an anchorman for the Weather Channel is giving us an up-to-date report on the storm, and with little else, dinner resumes like nothing happened.

Rosalie pleads with Jasper to help her clear the table, and he gives in when she promises not to whine about it. My mother sends me and Charlie upstairs to get more batteries and towels in case a window breaks even though most of the exterior windows are boarded up.

"Your sister's a pistol," Charlie says as we ascend the stairs. "That's for sure. You forgot the mention she was so protective. Does she know?"

I can't lie. "Yeah. Well, most of what a twelve-year-old can."

"And?"

I shrug. "She's cool with it, I guess. I swore her to secrecy, and to her, that's like signing in blood."

The storage closet at the end of the second floor hallway is a walk-in, and I have to use a flashlight to see what I'm doing. I find the batteries on a shelf close to the back, and I'm turning to leave when the door to the closet suddenly closes. I'm not alone as Charlie steps closer to me and takes the flashlight to lay it on a shelf nearby.

"Like I said, you're kinda hot, Cullen," he whispers, his voice husky and tantalizing.

The space is close, and in an instant, we're facing each other in the semi-darkness. My back touches the shelves behind me as he scoots closer, and the moment his hands go to my face, I grasp onto his waist, tilting my head back less than a second before his lips meet mine. He tastes different now — like cocktail sauce and Sprite. His tongue finds mine easily as I unconsciously grind our hips together. He's hard like I am, and I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm kissing Charlie in the storage closet in my parents' house in the middle of a tropical storm. And I'm liking it.

Slowly, he moves his lips over my jaw to my neck, licking my Adam's apple and then kind of sucking on my earlobe. I can't stop the soft groan that escapes my lips, and instantly, I'm clenching my teeth. If anyone finds us here, it won't be good, especially if it's Jasper. My idiot little brother wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut if he walked in on me making out with another guy.

Charlie's lips close in on mine again, but only for a second before he whispers. "What are you doing to me?"

I don't know what I'm supposed to say, so I opt not to respond.

"I mean, I don't even fucking know you. And you come to the field a few hours ago, trying to ask me out I guess, and now I'm standing in your closet wishing I could have my way with you. Do you realize what you're doing to me?"

Embarrassed, I shake my head.

He smiles and reaches behind me, shutting off the flashlight and throwing the space around us into darkness. I can't see anything as he leans forward and kisses me again, his tongue seeking mine as his hands make their way to my own waist. He's warm and hard and incredible, and I never want him to stop kissing me. The minute I feel his hand over the small of my back, the spot erupts in heat. It spreads as he rubs his fingers over my spine until he can slip his hand inside the back of my pants. I'm not wearing jogging pants like him, but I'm not wearing jeans either.

He unbuttons my pants easily, slipping his hand down the back so he can touch my ass. He's inside my underwear, rubbing my ass and pushing me against him. His cock is just as hard as mine, and rubbing against me is making him even harder. Instinctively, I push my body against him until we're moving in time so he can slide the tip of his finger over the crease between my ass cheeks.

His free hand dips inside the front of my pants slowly, and I'm overwhelmed to the point of pushing him away.

"Wait," I pant. "I can't . . . We shouldn't . . . Not here. Please."

He still kisses me, but his hands are on my face now. "I told you. All I want is to have my way with you, Cullen. But that's okay. We probably shouldn't be in here too long anyway."

I tuck my chin to my chest. "Right. Sorry."

He holds up his hands in surrender. "No apology necessary. I'm the one who closed the door."

I can't look at him. I'm too embarrassed.

He touches my chin and lifts my head. It's dark, but somehow, I can see him. He kisses me again, just once, and then a knock on the door breaks the spell.

"What's going on in there?" Rosalie demands through the door.

I exhale loudly, reaching behind my head for the flashlight and switching it on. He steps away, giving me barely enough space to zip and button my pants. After a few more seconds, he steps behind me, and I move to open the door.

Rosalie is standing there with her hands on her waist as she eyes both of us suspiciously. But much to my relief, she doesn't say anything about our apparent disappearance, glancing around us into the storage closet.

"We still need batteries," she informs me.

I'm blushing in the semi-darkness, but I don't know if she can tell or not. "Right," I say. "I'll get them."

She nods once and turns her gaze to Charlie. "Good. You come with me," she commands.

Sheepishly, I glance at him, seeing a curious smile on his face as he looks at me and then follows my sister away from the closet.

I have to curse myself for doing something so stupid, but I can't.

For whatever reason, this feels good. It feels right. And I don't care where I have to hide to do it again.

Rose and Charlie are going through the stuff already laid out in the dining room, and they both look up when I come off the bottom step with batteries and towels. She gives me this 'you should've known better' look, but Charlie just smiles.

I can't help but smile back.

The storm passes slowly, and everyone has to find things to do. The wind howls and rain pelts the roof ominously. I've been through quite a few of these, and with the windows boarded up, I have to read in the candlelight of the living room while my father and mother listen to the weather reports. Jasper complains about not having anything to do, and Rose is doing a crossword puzzle next to me. Charlie actually falls asleep in an arm chair across the living room, softly snoring after an hour or so.

Thunder and lightning become prominent after another hour, and I can't concentrate on my book. I leave the living room and step into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Rose follows me after a minute or two, getting her own glass and then turning to me as I lean against the counter.

"Okay, spill," she demands.

I furrow my eyebrows. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She glances around and then steps closer, lowering her voice. "He kissed you, didn't he?"

"Shut up," I hiss.

She smiles. "He did. What was it like?"

"What was it like?" I repeat. "What do you know about it? Why aren't you freaked out over it? Doesn't it make you sick or something?"

With a shrug, she laughs. "Not really. I mean, he is kinda cute. And I can tell he kissed you. You were all flustered earlier, and you ramble when you're nervous. Just tell me what it was like."

I looked around to make sure we were alone. "It was weird at first. I've only ever kissed Katie, and she just wasn't that good at it. At least not to me. But he's . . . good. And he's kissed guys before."

She doesn't say much after that, still looking around and then putting her glass away. Then she turns and leaves the kitchen.

I get tired close to midnight, waking Charlie and then leading him upstairs where he'll be sleeping until the storm passes. Rose and Jasper are already in their beds, and my parents are blowing out all the candles. The wind is still howling, and the rain is still pelting, but the storm's been downgraded. We all know it's over even though the power's still out. My father's guessing a power line might've snapped, and he plans to call the electrician in town to come have a look in the morning.

"I don't think I've ever stayed the night at anyone's house who wasn't on a team I was playing for," Charlie says as we ascend the stairs to the second floor.

"Should I be flattered or scared?" I grin.

He shakes his head. "No, I just mean it's the first time I've done anything like this. Don't be scared. I promise not to jump your bones tonight."

I blush and then step into my room as it sets illuminated by a battery-operated lamp. I'm afraid to change out of the pants and shirt I'm wearing, and I lay on the bed without thinking about it. He doesn't follow me immediately, sitting in a chair on the other side of the room just as my mother pokes her head in the room.

"Okay, boys, we'll see you in the morning."

I nod. "Night, mom."

"Good night, Mrs. Cullen," Charlie smiles.

She smiles at him and then me before closing the door softly.

"You got a nice family," Charlie says after a few minutes. "Your mom and dad are cool. Jasper's a little high-maintenance, but Rosalie's kinda cute."

I look at him, and he holds up his hands.

"And I mean that in a completely platonic way. Probably like she could be my little sister too."

I smile, and he rises from the chair. Slowly, he makes his way to where I am, kneeling onto the bed as he pulls his shirt up over his head.

Suddenly, I'm looking at him glowing in the artificial light. His chest is smooth and toned a lot like mine, and the six-pack over his abdomen beckons my fingers to touch him. He smiles like he knows I'm thinking it, and he plants his hands on both sides of my head.

"Don't get any ideas, Cullen," he warns with a chuckle. "We both have school tomorrow, and even if I really would like to fool around, we should save it for later. Right?"

He leans down and kisses me with his eyes open. Even in the low light, his chocolate brown eyes kind of sparkle, and I feel something stir in my loins the way I did at dinner. Then he leans back and lays a finger over my lips. I understand what he's saying, and I have to scoot over so he has room to sleep.

He plops down on his bare chest, and I still can't move, watching him watch me.

I can't believe I'm doing this, but it feels good. I can't wait for the next step.

* * *

><p><em><strong>We're going to be revisiting both Carlisle and Edward's past, starting with Carlisle obviously because he's older. <strong>_

_**I'm meaning to label these with the pairing they have, so this "set" will be Carlisle and Charlie. The next set will be a new pair. Sound kosher?**_

_**Want more? Let me know. You might get a preview.**_

_**Oh, and I have a new section on my profile where I've listed some new ideas. If it fancies you, head on over there and tell me which one of those looks promising.  
><strong>_

_**Goodnight!  
><strong>_


	2. First Everything

_**Outtake # 2, and it's quite a bit longer, cause more stuff happens. I see lots of people reading, but not many reviewing. I know when we see "Charlie and Carlisle" we think of older men with children, but seriously, this is completely different. I promise.**_

_**You don't have to read the main story to read this one, though it would probably be good to see where everyone ends up and who they end up with.**_

_**I don't own Twilight, but I do like to make her characters act like hormonal teenagers - literally is this case.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>First Everything<strong>_

The first time I see Charlie after he spent the night at my house in the middle of a hurricane is the following day at school, but we don't talk at first. In fact, he barely acknowledges me except to say hi at the beginning of the one class we share. I'm mad for pretty much the whole morning until lunch when a freshman I've never seen brings me an envelope. The young girl doesn't say anything to me, turning and leaving as soon as her task is complete. As soon as she's gone, I open the envelope curiously.

Am I in trouble?

The first thing I see after opening the letter inside is my name at the top and a short, hand-written message.

_Cullen,_

_Don't get mad, but things have to be like this for a little while. I still have practice, and I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than follow me around. Like I said, I don't have practice Mondays and Wednesdays so we'll talk this afternoon._

_CS_

CS?

Charlie Swan.

What did he do? Bribe a freshman into bringing me a letter so he didn't have to do it himself?

At first, I'm even more mad now than I was earlier, but then I realize he didn't have to send me anything at all. This is a really messed up way of saying he still wants to see me, but at least he's saying it.

I look up from where I'm sitting, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him standing in a group of guys from the team. For an instant — maybe less — he looks in my direction and nods. I can only stare at him.

I can't believe he just did that.

The rest of the day is mostly uneventful. I'm pretty efficient in most of my classes — even calculus, which is actually fairly boring but necessary if I'm going to get into medical school.

My mind wanders as I'm sitting there listening to the teacher drone on about how finals are only a couple of months away and not all of us are doing the work needed to make it to the second semester. I know he isn't talking to me, and instantly, I'm thinking about Charlie.

I can still remember how his lips felt since it was just yesterday that he kissed me. I want him to kiss me again, but I'm not naïve enough to think it's gonna happen just because I want it. The feeling of his fingers stroking me makes me shiver on the spot, and suddenly, I can hear the teacher calling my name.

"Are we boring you, Mr. Cullen?"

I focus on him as he and everyone else stares at me. "No, Mr. Varner. Sorry."

He smirks and huffs, looking at the other students. "Is anyone else needing to be reminded why this grade is so important?"

The students murmur 'no', but all I can think about is Charlie and his hand on my —

Instantly, I rise from my chair. "Mr. Varner, I need to use the restroom."

He eyes me curiously, but after a minute, he hands me a bathroom pass.

I leave quickly, knowing where Charlie is and needing the distance between us as little as possible. Maybe he won't be too mad if I improvise.

His own Physics class is filled with other seniors I see every day at lunch. I know some of them, and some of them know me. I'm at a loss as to how I'm supposed to get his attention, but then the five-minute bell rings, signaling that it's almost the end of the day.

School usually only goes to three, but some of the students stay until nearly four if they're in an advanced class. I'm stuck with the realization that I left class less than ten minutes before the next-to-last bell rang, and I can't believe I did that.

Before I can do anything else, the door to the classroom opens, and I'm plastered to the wall behind it as twenty seniors pour out into the hallway. Charlie is nowhere among them. I step out to leave the doorway, but someone grabs me and pulls me back into the room. The door shuts, and instantly, I'm facing Charlie in a dark classroom.

"You really are brave, aren't you?" he whispers to me.

He moves me out of the doorway until we're in a dark corner, and he leans in to kiss me a second before I involuntarily speak.

"Where's the teacher?" I whisper.

"Her house is surrounded by water," he explains, his nose and lips dangerously close to mine. "Principal Greene asked me to keep an eye on my class. We spent the whole hour drawing on the chalkboard."

He lays his hands over my hips until his are aligned with mine, and I can feel him through his jeans.

"I was thinking about you all day," he whispers, his lips and nose brushing against mine.

I smile unconsciously. "Yeah?"

He nods. "Yeah. What did you plan to accomplish coming down here at the end of school?"

He's smiling, and I know he's teasing me. I blush deep red. "I don't know," I shrug. "I wasn't really thinking. Not about school anyway."

My back suddenly hits the wall, and he has me pinned, but I can't seem to care. This is what I wanted. I can see in his eyes that he wants it too. He leans in to kiss me, stopping just before his lips touch mine and whispering.

"Principal's probably gonna come around checking the rooms in about twenty minutes. We shouldn't be here when he does. Do you have a car?"

Embarrassingly, I shake my head, and my lips brush against his again. "My father says I have to be eighteen before he'll let me have my own car. I was driving his car yesterday, and he keeps it locked in the garage most of the time. I — "

His lips finally make contact with mine as he stops me from rambling. The feeling of his tongue on mine is enough to turn my brain to mush even as he leans back from me a little.

"You really ramble when you're nervous, don't you?"

I nod, and he extends his tongue to lick my lips.

Chills wrack my whole body, and I can feel it all the way to my toes — and everywhere in between. He's harder now than he was a minute ago, and I realize what a fine line we're walking here.

"You should leave first," he whispers, kissing me and cupping my ass in his hands. "It's the maroon corvette under the oak tree."

Telling me where his car is parked is his way of telling me to meet him there. I know that's what someone tells you when they want to see you. All the guys in gym class say that about the girls they see behind their girlfriends' backs.

Charlie doesn't have a girlfriend anymore, but I'm worried about what this means.

"Don't overanalyze this, Cullen," he orders softly. "I'll be right behind you. And I promise not to jump you until we're alone."

I blush again. After another minute, he releases me and allows me to leave the classroom alone.

Charlie's car is parked exactly where he said, and I'm surprised to see the parking lot almost completely empty.

Were we really inside alone that long?

I look around as I make my way to the school's parking lot, making sure no one else is around. Another car is sitting across the lot from Charlie's, but it doesn't look familiar. For a split second, I'm worried it might be someone I know in a different car than usual.

I normally walk to school despite living on the outskirts of town, and I know my mother will worry about me if I'm not home by at least five-thirty. I have to remember to tell Charlie so my parents won't think anything is wrong.

The reality of what I'm doing hits me as I step into the parking lot and find Charlie's car. We're about to do something I've never done before, and I'm even more nervous now than I was the day before.

What if I do something wrong? I could embarrass myself, and Charlie would never speak to me again. I wasn't even sure how all this was happening, but I want to see Charlie again after today. I've never felt like this, and I don't want the feeling to go away any time soon.

The doors to the school open then, and I look back to see Charlie coming closer with a bag over his shoulder. I remember I left my books in Calculus, but my wallet and keys are on me, so I'm not worried about a book right now.

Charlie crosses over into the parking lot, smiling when he sees me and then glancing around the way I did. He also notices the car sitting across the lot from his, but he doesn't look worried. He nods to his car, silently telling me to get in before he moves around to the driver's side.

The inside of his car smells like peppermint and old leather. Not even my father's car smells so amazing, and it's brand new. The bucket seats make me feel about four feet tall sitting next to Charlie as he guns the engine and looks at me perplexed.

Then he reaches between my legs to pull a lever under the seat. I can't deny my blush, swallowing as he chuckles. The seat instantly shifts forward, and we're suddenly eye-to-eye.

"Sorry about that," he says with a shake of his head. "I gave Connor a ride home after practice yesterday. Guy's got to be at least 6'3". He should be on the basketball team."

At the mention of another guy on the team, my face flushes, and I'm speaking before I can stop myself.

"Does he know?"

Charlie huffs. "Yeah, I gave him the whole enchilada about the fact that I only dated Renee so no one would know I had a boy-toy on the side. Seriously, Cullen, I'm not stupid."

He sounds angry now. I swallow again, embarrassed. "Sorry. Maybe this is a bad idea."

I move to get out, but he grabs my arm.

"Wait," he pleads. "I didn't mean to yell. I just — My parents don't really know about this, and I can't tell them. My dad would probably kill me, and it would kill my mother if she found out. I don't have a little sister I can talk to about this."

I can't help but grin, thinking about Rose the day before, but I understand more than he probably realizes.

"I get it," I say softly. "I do. I didn't mean to imply. But you said only a couple of people knew. I thought you at least had a friend you could talk to."

He doesn't say anything for a minute, finally putting his car in gear. "Let's get out of here before we start baring our souls — or anything else."

I don't say anything even though I'm smiling now. I'm glad he hasn't thrown me out of the car.

Charlie literally peels out of the parking lot, and for the slightest of seconds, I'm worried someone might hear him. Then he reaches over the middle console for my hand, and I can't seem to care if anyone knows we're together.

I obviously can't tell anyone about this, but for now, it's okay.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"No place special," he replies vaguely. Then he adds, "Somewhere I can have you all to myself and show you a good time."

Blood rushes to my cheeks, and he glances at me with a crooked grin. My heart is racing, pumping blood all over my body. All I can think about is running my fingers through his hair while he —

"You're kinda cute when you blush like that," he says. "And I don't mean that in a completely platonic way."

Though I try to stop, I can't, and every word he speaks is causing an acute reaction in my loins. Can I even say that?

"Do you fish?" he asks offhandedly.

A smile forms across my face even though I'm confused. "Um, every now and then," I reply.

He doesn't say anything else, nodding just once and continuing on away from the school parking lot.

I've been fishing probably six times in my whole life, and all six of them were when I went to England with Rose and Jasper this past summer to visit our great-grandfather. Before then, I'd never really been fishing in my life, and for the first day of it, I didn't catch anything. But my grandfather taught me everything he knew. It wasn't easy.

I won't say I don't like to fish. The few times I've done it were relaxing. My great-grandfather and I talked about things I could never talk about with my own father. I learned a lot that summer — like the fact that I definitely like boys more than I like girls when I found myself attracted to a bar tender at the pub he took me to after a long morning of fishing. Nothing ever came of it, but I had my first fantasies about that man, and it was eye-opening to say the least.

Now that I'm speeding through town toward the docks with Charlie, I can't help but think what my great-grandfather would say if he knew what I was doing. I don't think he would disapprove. He's from a different place as my parents, and it's not wrong to him like it would be to them. I wish I could talk to him about it now, but he's across an ocean and kind of out of reach. It's one of the few things I hate about it.

Charlie parks his corvette before long, in front of a row of boathouses that are usually unoccupied this time of year. He gets out of the car without saying anything, and I follow him as he moves to the trunk.

"You keep fishing equipment back here?" I ask.

He lifts the trunk lid and immediately, I see a cooler and a small duffle bag. "No," he says. "The fishing equipment is in my dad's boat. This is for the rest of the time when I don't fish."

He nods for me to help with the cooler as he straps the duffle bag over his head. I automatically grab a handle, and together, we walk away from the car to make our way toward the docks. Sometimes, there are bigger boats here — larger than just the average river boat, but today, I can only see one at the end of the pier the size of my father's.

This seems to be Charlie's destination as he tosses the duffle bag in and then slowly steps down into the boat. I follow, and we set the cooler down before Charlie sits behind the wheel to turn the boat on. There's a little bit of a chill in the air that's common after a tropical storm, but I know it will be warmer tomorrow because we're right on the water. We rarely see really cold temperatures here, and over winter break, my father usually takes us further up the coast so we can have a real Christmas with snow and pine trees like he was used to as a kid in London.

"Untie us," Charlie orders with a grin, pointing to the ropes holding us to the pier.

I try not to blush as I pull us free, but when I look back at him, he's smiling wider.

The waters are a little choppy today, but it's not something I'm unaccustomed to. Living in South Carolina my whole life, it's something I actually like. The wind is still whipping from the storm that came through the day before, and being surrounded by salt water adds to the familiar feeling. We go north, upstream a bit and then he turns out into the bay with only a glance in my direction.

The town we live in is surrounded by creeks and rivers, but out in the bay, there's a lot of wet lands that attracts a lot of tourists. It's not usually enough to cause a problem, and they're all gone by now. Muddy Bay is practically empty when Charlie gets there, and I can't help but think maybe he likes it this way. He directs the boat toward the southeast part of the bay, into a smaller inlet of water still glancing at me. In the back of my mind, I know we're all alone here, and he can do whatever he wants to me. I don't know how I feel about that, but I'm trying not to freak out.

I don't really know him despite all the snooping I've done in the principal's office. For all I know, he could be a psychotic, overbearing asshole from which there was no escape. If he wanted to do anything to me, this would be the perfect place for him to do it. I can't even believe I'm thinking this. I don't know where it's coming from.

I'm usually a trusting idiot just like my little sister says, and I've gotten myself into some pretty ridiculous situations.

Charlie suddenly stops next to a small beach and smiles at me, climbing onto the bow of the boat and dropping the anchor. He comes back to me and hops down to the back of the boat. "Here we are," he announces.

He opens the cooler and takes out two bottles of beer. He hands one to me and then opens one of the compartments of the boat to pull out two fishing rods. One of those is mine for the duration of our outing, and with a long swig on my beer, I take the rod and follow him to the back seats of the boat.

"I haven't been out this far in a while," he says, pulling in his line and then tossing it out into the water. "Dad's usually really anal about being close to the docks in case something happens. But I like it out here. It's quiet."

I mirror him as closely as I can, agreeing with a nod. "It is quiet."

Minutes pass, and silence overtakes us.

"So when's the last time you went fishin'?" he asks suddenly.

"Over the summer," I say glancing at him. "My brother and sister and I went to England to visit our great-grandfather. He took me."

"England?" he repeats, his brown eyes wide as he grins.

I nod.

"Did you like it?"

I remember the man I had a crush on, the one I had my first real wet dream about, and I nod again, smiling wider.

Charlie leans over, grinning wider as well. "Did you have a guy over there you spent time with?"

The look on my face is undeniable, but I insist it wasn't like that. "I just saw him. He worked in a pub we went to after a long morning."

"You beat off to him?"

No one's ever said anything like that to me in my life, and air catches in my throat as I choke on my own breath. Charlie laughs.

"It's okay, Cullen. It happens a lot more often than you probably realize. You know, when I go off to NYU, you are definitely gonna have to visit me. New York would love you."

The mention of love causes blood to rush to my face, and the instant I feel Charlie's hand on my leg, I'm hyper-aware of where we are and that we're alone. We're not in my house where four different people could see us or catch us.

"You really are new at this, aren't you?" he asks.

I nod furiously.

He squeezes my knee. "It's okay," he says again. "Really. We got a lot more talkin' to do before you're gonna be ready for anything other than what we did yesterday. You're safe with me, Cullen. All right? I got you."

I open my eyes and see him staring at me more sincerely than anyone ever has. I nod again. "Okay," I manage to squeak out.

He squeezes my knee again. "Okay."

So we fish.

Unlike when I went fishing with my grandfather, this is fun in a way I could never have imagined. Charlie talks about his plans to go to NYU the next fall to study law as a way to have a different life than his father. I tell him I want to go to medical school away from South Carolina even though my father wants me to go to Columbia. He thinks it's cool that I want to be a doctor, saying he's never met a junior so determined.

Just as we're talking about that man I had a crush on in London, my line tugs tellingly, and instantly, I'm holding onto the fishing rod for dear life. I don't know if it's a big fish, but as hard as it pulling on my line, I can't help but think it's huge. I have trouble holding on, and Charlie helps me hold the rod while I reel in the line.

"You got it, Cullen," he says encouragingly. "Keep it steady. That feels like a big one!"

We work together for another minute, and suddenly, a mackerel about the length of my forearm flies out of the water, flapping and fighting as we reel it in. Charlie reaches out for the line to steady it, and instantly, I'm laughing.

"Damn!" he yells. "Not bad, Cullen. You're a natural!"

His praise sends my blood pumping, and even as he unhooks the fish and lets it go, I feel a smile about a mile wide spread across my face. He smiles too, pulling the line in further and then laying it over the bottom of the boat. My heart is racing, pumping blood all over my body and causing me to get hot right there.

Charlie steps closer to me, still holding his beer and lifting it to his mouth to take a drink before he grabs my shirt and pulls me closer to him. Ours mouths slam together only a second or two before he's slipping his tongue inside my mouth. My tongue accepts his easily, and we're standing there kissing like there's no tomorrow.

His skin is kind of rough with stubble, but I don't care, grasping onto his waist as he kisses me deeper. I can feel it in my toes, and I can feel him through his jeans the same way I'm sure he can feel me. He tastes like his beer and something that reminds me of caffeine and sugar. I realize he tastes like coke and beer, and I have to step away from him before I fall.

I'm feeling more light-headed than I thought possible, and I sit down a second before he follows me.

"You okay?"

Gasping for breath, I nod even though I'm decidedly better than okay.

"You're kinda innocent, Cullen," he comments, lifting his hand to my head and moving my hair from my face.

He strokes the hair at the back of my head, and more chills wrack my body. He seems to know what he's doing, smiling and leaning closer to kiss me again. The hand he has on my waist moves a little until he slips it under my shirt, and in seconds, he's rubbing the small of my back like he did the day before.

I'm sitting in such a way that he's able to slide his hand into my pants, and he keeps kissing me deep and hard while easing his hand lower until it's in my underwear. I'm getting harder by the second, and with my back against the side of the boat, there's nothing I can do to hide it.

After a minute of rubbing my lower back and coming dangerously close to stroking my ass, Charlie moves his hand from behind me to the front of my body. All I can think about is his tongue and lips and the hand he has over the back of my head. He moves his hand over my stomach and then the waist of my pants, but he doesn't unbutton or unzip me. He just lays his hand over my crotch. Just this alone makes me go crazy. It's even better than I thought it would be to have him touch me, and I want more.

I want him to put his hand down my pants like he did yesterday, and I want him to have his hand around my cock. It feels like he wants it too, especially when he starts to rub my crotch through my pants.

I unconsciously let go of his mouth, moaning a little louder than I intend, and he laughs softly kissing my cheek.

"Bet the only hand you had down here was your own," he whispers in my ear. "Am I right?"

I nod helplessly.

"You want me to?"

I know what he's asking, but I just really met him yesterday. It's too soon, and I know that. If I give him complete access to my body now, how do I know he won't use me and then move on when he's finished?

He slides his lips and tongue over my jaw to my neck, nibbling on my earlobe and then laying his mouth over my Adam's apple. Chills are making me shake even though all I can do is let him rub me and kiss me until he's ready to stop.

God, I hope he never does.

I know I'm going to explode any minute now. I've never been aroused this fast. It feels amazing. His mouth feels incredible on my skin, and his hand is doing things to me no one else's ever has.

"It's late," he whispers in my ear, and I shiver again. "You probably need to get home."

Without waiting for me to respond, he moves his hand away, grabbing my hip and slamming his mouth over mine like he did before. I'm so close, but I know he's right. If I'm any later getting home, my mother will probably send a search party for me.

Charlie leans back before another minute can pass, and I open my eyes unwillingly. He's looking at me like I've never seen anyone look at me before. He wants to devour me, and it scares me. But I can't look away.

"Don't worry, Cullen," he whispers, his nose and lips brushing against mine. "We have plenty of time for that."

I bite my lip, wanting to speak but only nodding.

He smiles and stands up slowly, gathering everything up and then moving to the driver's seat to start the engine again. We're moving before five minutes can pass.

It's not dark, but my instincts tell me it's close to five-thirty. I've never really been so late getting home, but I have time to come up with an alibi in the time it takes him to get us from the bay to the pier that extends from my house. The lights are on, and I know my parents are probably wondering where I am.

"So I have practice tomorrow," he says. "But I'll call you after."

I smile and nod. "Okay."

He leans closer to me, looking around and kissing me before he lets me go.

I climb out of the boat and wave before making my way up the pier to my house. I look back once, and he's gone.

* * *

><p>I've never been on a date with a guy. I've never actually been on a date with anyone in my life. So when Charlie says it's time for us to go on our first date the Saturday after his last practice, I can't deny that I'm nervous.<p>

What do I wear?

Where is he going to take me?

What if I say something stupid?

Rosalie knows something's been going on. She hasn't said anything to our parents, and I can't say I'm not grateful.

Every time I've had to give my parents a lame excuse why I'm home late, Rosalie is almost always the one to cover up for me. Then after dinner, she makes me tell her every detail about what happens while I'm with Charlie. Of course, I can't tell her everything. If I did that, I'd worry about her having weird dreams or looking at boys in a way she shouldn't. She's still only twelve.

But I tell her about what it's like when he kisses me and what we talk about when it's just us. I tell her his hopes and dreams. We've been spending time together for a few weeks, and I'm wondering how much longer I can do this without it showing on my face.

"You're definitely starting to glow," Rosalie tells me as I shuffle through the closet for a shirt to wear.

"What?" I ask, holding a red shirt and a green shirt in front of me.

She grabs my bare arm and turns me to face her. I'm almost six feet tall, and her head barely makes it to the middle of my chest. But she faces me like someone twice my size with her arms over her chest.

"You're glowing, you overzealous moron," she accuses. "You might want to tone it down before mom and dad start thinking you've got a girlfriend. And then they're going to expect to meet her and stuff."

I sigh heavily, still holding the shirts in front of me. "Really? You're gonna start riding me now?"

She smirked. "Wear the green," she suggests.

I don't hesitate, throwing the red shirt on my bed and pulling the green shirt on. I've had it since I went to London, and my grandfather said it made me look different — like I was older but still me. I really need to buy some newer clothes if Charlie's going to be taking me out.

"Don't you have anything blue?" she asks. "It'll make your eyes stand out."

With a glance in her direction, I'm worried about her turning into my fashion consultant. After a minute, I pull the green shirt off and turn back to my closet. "I can't take forever doing this," I complain. "I'm supposed to meet him at the docks at six."

"And go where?"

"He won't say," I gripe.

I spot a bright blue button-down shirt, pulling it out instantly and then pulling it on.

"Better," she says.

"All right," I agree. "I'm gonna take Dad's car since he said I could go drive over to Charleston."

She doesn't say anything of the ploy I've managed to play out for my parents to let me stay out passed midnight.

As soon as I'm sure my clothes are straight, I turn to face her as she watches me get ready.

"Like I said, you're glowing. You might want to find a girl on the side," she suggests. "Just in case mom and dad think you have a girlfriend or something."

I smirk myself, lifting my hands to my hips.

She held her hands up in concession. "What, I'm just saying!"

I roll my eyes and move around her to leave my room.

My mother and father are sitting in the living room reading, and Jasper is out with his friends from school for a sleepover. It's odd that Rosalie is going to be home by herself, and I'm momentarily worried about her. I haven't really been away from her since she was a baby. But she's been so supportive the last few weeks. I know she'll be okay.

"Oh, Carlisle, darling, have fun," my mother calls as I pull my jacket on.

"I will," I promise.

"Don't be too late," my father reminds me.

I smile slightly. "Not too late," I nod.

With that, I'm free, and I hurry to my father's car to get to the docks.

From my house, it takes about five minutes to get to the docks, and Charlie's waiting for me where we parked the first time we came here. He's putting a wicker basket in his trunk and holding a blanket in his arm. I think he's going to take me on a picnic or something, but we can't do that around here.

People talk.

I park next to him and get out as he comes around to greet me.

There's no one else around, and he leans in to kiss me before he says hello.

"You're early," he whispers.

"My sister just about didn't let me leave the house unless I looked perfect."

He gazes over my clothes, smiling wider. "I think I like her the longer I know her," he teases.

I blush, and he pulls me to his car.

"Let's get going," he says.

"Where are we going?" I ask for what feels like the hundredth time since two days ago.

"It's a surprise," he repeats from the last time.

I huff softly and slide into the passenger seat of his car.

From the docks, it takes about ten minutes to get to the highway, and in that time, he takes my hand in his and slides his fingers between mine.

About a week after we went fishing, he started doing this, and I'm starting to like it. We've been getting closer to him actually doing things to me I keep dreaming about, even if we haven't been able to go out until now. He keeps hinting that it's coming, but he knows I'm worried. He sees fear in my eyes whenever he does something I've never done before, and he keeps trying to assure me that everything's going to be okay. Even though he promises we'll get to that, I'm still worried.

Highway 17 takes us through North Santee, Georgetown, and Murrells Inlet over the course of about an hour, and in the time, it's dark and quiet except for soft music playing from the radio. In a few weeks, I've become accustomed to Charlie's musical tastes, but with a mainstream station playing, more popular music is playing. Neither of us is interested in paying attention to the music, but his thumb rubs over mine the whole time.

Myrtle Beach is our obvious destination, and while I'm a little more excited now than I was an hour ago, I wonder exactly why he brought a picnic basket and a blanket.

"What are we doing here?" I ask from my seat.

He grins. "Don't you like surprises?"

"Within reason, yes. But in this case, I'd really like to know."

"Am I makin' you nervous, Cullen?"

I look at him and sigh as loudly as I can without sounding like I'm huffing the way I did before getting in the car.

He looks at me. "What? We're goin' to dinner and a movie," he tells me. "Isn't that what people on first dates do?"

Sheepishly, I bow my head. "I don't know. I've never actually been on a date before."

He squeezes my hand. "Well, stop bein' a worry-wort. We're gonna have a great time."

I smile even with my head down, staring at our hands.

As soon as we're in the city, Charlie takes an interchange to get on 29th Avenue, and once he's heading for the coast, I can't help looking around.

The last time I was in Myrtle Beach was for Spring Break with a few friends from school. Benjamin and Tia had begged me to go so they wouldn't have to be alone, but honestly, I hated being a third wheel. I was still awkward being around other guys because I was starting to notice how my body reacted to them, and it was embarrassing to have to stay dressed the whole time when everyone else was stripping to bikinis and board shorts. It was the most uncomfortable day of my life.

Now that I'm driving through the streets with Charlie, I'm not uncomfortable. I'll admit I'm nervous because I don't know exactly what he means when he says dinner and a movie, but I'm not uncomfortable in the slightest. I'm actually excited.

With Myrtle Beach being a coastal town that relies on a lot of tourism for its business and it being November, there are only local people walking the sidewalks. But there are still enough people to make me worry about them seeing us. No one around here knows me or Charlie, but people are still judgemental. I know my brother is.

I spot girls and guys walking around holding hands as they move from one place to another, and something Rose said earlier refuses to stay down.

"Did you date Rene because you had a boyfriend?" I blurt out.

He doesn't answer me, and I look at him to see a confused look on his face.

"Sorry," I say after half a minute of his silence. "It's not my business."

"No," he says, "it's not. And no, I didn't. At least that's not why I dated her. I'm not sure why. I guess that's why we broke up."

I'm worried to say anything else, but I can't deny my curiosity. "Did you and she . . . ever . . ."

I can't finish my sentence, and he pulls around to a movie theater that's filling up. He pulls into a space and turns the car off before he turns to face me.

"Listen, Cullen, I don't know why I feel the need to tell you this, but here goes. I didn't ask Rene out. She asked me. And I had a guy I was kinda seeing a couple of towns away. He and I didn't work out, and I was feeling kinda useless when she found me. Her friends were all giggly, and I thought, what the hell?"

I look at him, seeing the sincere expression he had on his face when we went fishing the first time. "Did you like her?"

He shrugs. "She was nice enough. Funny and . . . passionate — about lots of shit. But after a little while, it was weird. I thought I could be normal and go out with a girl. And yes, I had sex with her a few times. But it just wasn't the same. That's when she started thinking something was wrong with me. Which I guess from her point of view, there was." He pauses, looking around before he continues. "And she was lying about saying I got rough with her. I don't fuck around with people like that, and when she started trying to pull all that shit, I broke it off. I'm trying to get a scholarship, and the last thing I need is some lying bitch putting off my chances."

I bite my lip again, and he leans forward without looking around, kissing me and then laying my hand he's still holding over his crotch. He's done this a few times now, wanting me to be accustomed to way he feels when I'm close. His cock is hard in his jeans, and as my hand rubs him, he gets harder and groans against my lips.

"That's what you do to me, Cullen," he whispers. "So don't ever doubt your ability to drive me fuckin' crazy. Okay?"

I smile, and he kisses me again. "Okay," I whisper back.

He pulls away, smiling himself. "Now, how do you feel about vampire movies?"

I'll say this about Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. They look absolutely amazing with long hair. Even with all the make-up and teeth and contacts, they're still hot as hell and probably know it. Now that doesn't go to say that I watched very much of the movie Charlie took me to, because I got through probably the first fifteen minutes before realizing the theater was only about half-full.

Upon entering the theater showing our movie, Charlie pulls me all the way to the back. No one stares at us like I think they will. Hardly anyone really pays attention to us, and I'm surprised. Is this why Charlie wanted to come here?

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Charlie lays his hand over my knee and after a few minutes, he moves his hand up the inside of my thigh until he has every opportunity to cup my crotch. But he doesn't. In fact, for most of the movie, his hand is parked there — not moving, not rubbing or stroking. It doesn't really matter if he's moving his hand or not. Just feeling his hand close to my cock makes it hard. I know he can feel it, but all he does is smile.

I'm not a big fan of horror movies, especially since most of them have become increasingly awful without any real horror quality. The last good horror movie I saw was when I was a kid, and I'm sure a lot's changed since then. Brad Pitt is supposed to be depressed about having to live forever alone, and well, Tom Cruise reminds me of Jack the Ripper. I have no idea how this is supposed to be scary, but every time I see flesh, it exacerbates my condition and makes me even harder.

Nothing I think of will make it go away either. I keep trying to think of how my mother's father passed away a couple of years ago and left us his house in Chicago, but it doesn't help. I try to remember how many birth marks Rose has, but all I can see is Charlie's hand stroking me and squeezing me until I —

"You're not really watchin' this movie, are you?" he asks softly, his mouth and nose rubbing against my ear. His hand still hasn't moved from my thigh.

I clear my throat quietly looking at the few dozen people in the theater with us. "I'm trying to," I assure him.

"Do you want me to stop?"

I know he means to move his hand away since he's discovered that's why I can't pay attention to the two hot guys in the movie we're watching. They pale in comparison to Charlie. I don't want him to move his hand. I want him to keep going, but we're not exactly hidden here even if no one would notice if he grabbed me and kissed me. Shaking my head, I lift my eyes to the screen just as Brad Pitt is storming through a burning landscape and cuts another vampire in half with a scythe. The music is loud and the colors on the screen are bright and remind me of when I watched Charlie eat dinner at my house in the middle of a tropical storm.

At that point, I look at him, seeing the bright yellow and orange dance on his face. I don't care if anyone watches. He leans in halfway, kissing me and finally moving his hand up over my crotch. I buck my hips against him, and he moves his lips and tongue down my neck, nibbling on my ear like he always does and unbuttoning the two bottom buttons of my shirt. He starts to unbutton my jeans, and against my hormones coursing through my body begging him to keep going, my mouth opens involuntarily.

"Not here," I whisper. "Not like this."

His hand stops, but his lips remain pressed against my neck.

Will he be mad? I don't want him to be upset, but this is awkward enough.

Just then, through the haze and arousal, my stomach actually growls, and he laughs.

"Jesus, are you hungry or somethin'?"

Blood rushes my cheeks, and he kisses them both before leaning back a little.

"You want perfection, don't you?" he teases. Then he sits back in his seat and turns to face the screen. "All right. We'll go eat, and then you're all mine."

Fear and excitement flood my torso, and even as the movie reaches its climax and then the falling action of Brad Pitt telling Christian Slater how empty he is, I feel so alive and . . . on fire. I feel invincible.

After the movie, Charlie drives around to a Japanese Steakhouse restaurant, parking in front and turning to me before he says anything.

"I know we're both guys and everything, but since I'm older, I'll pay for your dinner. Is that cool?"

I nod. "Yeah. Cool."

He smiles. "Good. Have you ever had Japanese?"

"Can't say that I have," I admit.

"Well, prepare yourself to be amazed," he warns.

We rise out of the car together, making our way inside and then being seated in a booth toward the back.

Ever had Chinese food? Japanese food is completely different. The flavors and spices are all different, and I never knew it could taste so amazing. My gauge for such a thing? Sitting with Charlie and listening to him talk about the last time he came here with the soccer team after they lost the last game of the season.

I'm not a big fan of soccer to begin with. I don't really watch it or follow it. I know they just made the state finals but got beaten by a team from another town nearby. Charlie says it was close, and I can only take his word for it.

We decide to skip dessert, since I know we're going somewhere to be alone. I'm nervous about where he's taking me, but I can't bring myself to put up anymore protest.

"You're not scared, are you?" he asks as we leave the restaurant and then slide back into his car.

I shake my head despite being a little terrified.

"Don't lie to me just so I'll have my way with you like I wanted to the first time," he warns even though he's grinning slightly. "I'm serious, Cullen."

I bite my lip. "I'm just worried. Nervous. But it's a good kind. I just don't want to do anything wrong."

He lifts his hand to the back of my head, and I look at him. "That's okay," he says. "I was like that once. Trust me, I won't hurt you."

I swallow and nod. "Okay."

He smiles wider. "Okay."

It's ten o'clock, but I'm not the least bit tired. Even though I got up this morning early to help my dad around the house, I feel like I could stay up all night. I know it's the adrenaline and probably the fact that I can't rest until I've had Charlie all over me. I don't know what I'm going to tell Rose when I get home, but she's about as far from my mind as home. I'm only here with Charlie, and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

From the restaurant, he drives around the little group of buildings to get back onto 29th Avenue. He heads straight for the coast this time, pulling onto North Ocean Avenue as it sets less than a stone's through from the water. My nerves are getting better, and we're passing buildings as he drives toward our next destination. Myrtle Beach is filled with little resorts and surf shops. There are probably two dozen just on this stretch of the road alone.

It's well after dark, and the only light is coming from the businesses lining the street as Charlie pulls up into a parking lot on the inland side of Ocean Avenue. He motions for me to follow him, and he takes the picnic basket from his trunk along with the blanket before directing me to the crosswalk that will lead us to the beach. There are a few people around, but none of them are watching us.

I start to wonder if this is just normal around here — two guys walking around together with a picnic basket and a blanket.

Okay, maybe that last part can't be normal, but since no one's paying us any attention, I wonder if they won't notice us kissing and touching and . . . other stuff.

I can tell the people on the beach are locals by the way they're dressed. Most tourists assume it's always warm here, but it's actually kind of cool with a breeze coming off the surf. Charlie finds us a relatively isolated spot away from most of the people and lights, and I help him with the blanket before he opens the picnic basket and pulls out a small metal box. Inside the box, I'm not surprised to see a few beers, and he hands one to me before sitting down on the blanket.

"It's not bad, right?" he asks.

I don't know if he means the view, the quiet or the fact that we're alone again and left to our devices to keep each other entertained.

"No," I say. "It's not bad."

He lifts his hand to the back of my neck, and I look at him. He leans closer, almost kissing me but whispering instead.

"No one's gonna bother us here," he promises. "They're . . . used to it here."

Something in the back of my mind tells me I already knew this. It's not like it's the 1950's, and we'll be publicly burned if we kiss or touch or . . . other stuff. But having Charlie assure me makes me feel much braver. I lift my hand to his face, and he smiles, closing the distance between us until his nose and lips brush against mine.

"Now, you're only seventeen, young man," he teases, "so I have to be careful." He leans back a little. "When are you supposed to be eighteen anyway?"

"May 13," I reveal, allowing our lips to touch again.

He grins and laughs softly. "No shit."

I nod. "What about you?"

"July 10."

I'm confused. "Then why is my birthday — "

"My mother's birthday is May 13," he explains, lowering his mouth to mine and claiming it more completely than he has in three weeks.

His revelation means nothing to me, but when he starts unbuttoning my shirt, I forget about everything else. Cool air slips inside my shirt as it comes undone, and he teases me as he lowers his hand, touching my nipple and then my navel. His hand comes to rest on the waist of my jeans again, and I'm ready. I mean, I'm hard, naturally, but I'm ready for more.

I'm not scared anymore.

I must be conveying this silently. Only half a minute after he lays his hand over my jeans, he unbuttons and then unzips them. The cool air hits my stomach and then drifts inside around his hand as he cups my cock gently.

Is he purposefully going slow? Is he still worried about people seeing us?

"Lift your leg," he whispers breathlessly.

Instinctively, I know he means the leg opposite him, and I raise my leg covertly, hiding the fact that his hand is in my jeans. He rubs me for several seconds, still kissing me and then moving his mouth down my neck. I lift my head then, forcing my eyes open to watch as he moves his hand a little and eases the tip of his fingers inside the waistband of my underwear.

His fingers are warm, but chills shake my body again.

"Dear God," I moan.

Charlie grins crookedly. "Just wait," he whispers.

Slowly, torturously, he slips his hand inside my underwear, gently rubbing his fingers over my skin until he finds what he's looking for. My arms are burning from propping myself up for so long, but I can't lay down the way I want to. Even if no one's really paying attention to us, one wrong move could get us both into a lot of trouble.

He runs the tips of his fingers down my shaft, still gentle but determined as he wraps his hand around me. I jump at the contact, and he presses his lips into my cheek.

"Relax," he pleads. "God, who would've thought, huh? You feelin' this good? Jesus, Cullen, where'd you get all this from?"

I can't speak, clenching my teeth and gripping at the sand beneath my hands as he begins stroking.

Shit, I've wanted this for three weeks, and now that it's happening, I seriously can't believe I've never let anyone else do it.

His fingers graze over the wet head of my cock, and I almost let go. He squeezes me a little, and I moan again. His mouth slams down on mine, and I can't help but wonder what his mouth would feel like around my cock.

Just thinking that makes me want to explode. His hand feels so amazing around my shaft, and I know I'm close. There's no one to bother us or stop him from his goal.

With his hand stroking and squeezing me, he starts rubbing my balls along with my cock, and I can't keep the strained groan from escaping around his lips.

I need to come so bad. If I have to stop one more time, I think I really will explode. Charlie seems to know this, speeding up his strokes and grazing my balls with each pass.

"You are so fucking hot, Cullen," he rasps. "Shit, you're so hot. How come I didn't know you had this thick cock in your pants this whole time?"

I still can't talk, keeping my teeth clenched and letting my head fall back as he lowers his mouth to my neck.

I can't hold it in any longer, coming all over his hand and my pants, and the only thing I know to do is apologize profusely.

"Shit, I'm sorry," I say quickly. "Oh, fuck, I'm so sorry."

He laughs and kisses my cheek. "No, it's cool. You lasted longer than I thought you would."

Suddenly, a cool cloth makes contact with my hot flesh, and I jump again, lifting my head to see a wet cloth laying over my cock as it lays against my lower abdomen. He cleans me up, almost causing me to get hard again, but in no time, he's pulling my underwear back up and zipping my jeans. He buttons me up and then covers my chest.

I sit up further, looking around and seeing that no one has noticed what we've done. I realize a little too late that I actually used profanity for the first time since meeting him, and he's smiling at me with that crooked grin.

"Like I keep sayin'. You're kinda innocent."

I blush and bow my head, but he touches my face to make me look at him.

"I like it," he says.

I lean closer to him and kiss him, pressing my forehead to his. "That was amazing," I gush.

He laughs and shrugs. "Well, thank you." Then he kisses me again. "There's a lot more. I promise."

I literally can't wait.

I want to sit here all night with him, but I know I have to go home.

Charlie doesn't seem to want to move either, sitting still and kissing me lightly since I don't want to move away from him. But then he stops, smiling sadly and leaning back so I'll have the chance to breathe air again.

We finish our beer in peace, glancing around as the beach becomes even more deserted. He takes my bottle as soon as it's empty, closing it and his own empty bottle in the metal box before closing up the picnic basket. I'm able to rise steadily and help him fold the blanket, and he lays his hand over the back of my neck.

"I better get you home," he says.

I don't argue, especially since I'm sure we'll be going out again.

I hold the blanket in my arms as he carries the basket, and we leave the beach quietly. No one bothers us as we make our way onto the sidewalk and then the crosswalk that will lead us back to his car.

"Well, look what we have here."

I stop instantly, less than thirty feet from the parking lot where Charlie's car is parked, and he does too.

Less than a minute later, we're surrounded by four guys who are obviously drunk. Two of them are dressed in tank tops and low-waisted jeans, and the other two are wearing hats and Georgetown sweatshirts.

"Looks like we got two lovebirds," the one who spoke says with a teasing grin.

Charlie looks at me, standing in front of me since he's at least two inches taller than me. "We don't want any trouble," he says, glancing at the others who are all looking at me.

"What do you think we want, Boy Scout?" one of the guys in a tank top taunts.

Charlie huffs. "Listen, guys."

Large hands grab me from behind and pull me away from Charlie, and he yells.

"Let him go!"

"Or what, Chachi?" the leader chuckles, grabbing Charlie by the collar and then shoving him back into one of the guys wearing a hat.

The front of my body is completely exposed, and even though I'm strong, the guys holding me are a lot stronger and taller than me. They have to be at least six-three, and they both have more than fifty pounds on me. The leader glances at Charlie and then me, stepping in front of me and trying to touch my face.

I try to twist away, but he grabs my hair and leans in close.

"You sure are pretty," he grins.

"That's enough," Charlie yells. "Leave him alone!"

The guy holding Charlie tugs him around and knees him in the stomach, and I can't stop the cry that escapes my mouth.

"Stop!"

In front of me, the leader grins even wider, showing his teeth and running his hand down my chest. "Oh, you're a screamer. I like that."

"Hey, what's goin' on over here?"

The guy holding Charlie turns, and the leader in front of me looks back. My attention is drawn away to see a uniformed cop coming closer with his baton pulled.

The hands holding me let go, and Charlie shoves his captor away, hurrying to me.

"What's going on here, boys?"

The cop looks at our would-be assailants, and then he looks at us.

"We're just on our way home, officer," Charlie announces, taking my arm and pulling me away to the parking lot.

Our belongings are long-forgotten, and we hear the cop admonishing the guys who just tried to assault us. I hurry to the car, and Charlie tosses me his keys so I can unlock my door and let him in the driver's side. He slides in and turns the car on, peeling out of the parking lot and driving in the opposite direction of the cop.

"Jesus," Charlie hisses. "Fucking Jesus Christ. Are you okay?"

I can't speak for the slightest second, and he looks at me despite driving.

"Cullen, are you okay?"

His loud voice stuns me, and I jump. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," I shout. "I'm fine!"

"Okay! Fuck! Christ, I can't believe that just happened."

"Watch the road!"

He grips the steering wheel so tight his knuckles are white, and soon, we're stopping at a light in the turning lane to get back on Hwy. 17.

He lays his head on the head rest, huffing and then reaching for my hand. The contact makes me jump a little, and he looks at me. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asks as calmly as he can.

"I'm fine," I say a third time. "It just scared me."

He pulls through the light onto the highway along with several other cars. "All right, that settles it."

I'm afraid he's going to say we can't do this anymore. I'm worried I made too much noise on the beach, and that's how those jerks found us.

Charlie kisses my knuckles and glances in my direction. "No more public beaches for you," he jokes.

I blush deep red, and he kisses my hand again before releasing it so he can drive.

It's an hour back home, and even though I don't want this night to end, I'm ready to be home. I'm safe there, and I know no one can get to me there.

The clock on Charlie's dash reads twelve-fifteen when we pull up into the parking lot at the docks next to my father's car. It's colder now than it was when we left, and the windows on my father's car have condensation on them. The inside of Charlie's car is warm, and I don't want to get out.

"So," he says, "no more practice. And I'm still gonna need a tutor for English."

I laugh softly, and he gets out of the car. He opens my door after less than half a minute, taking my hand and pulling me out of the car so that we're face to face.

"I had a good time," he says, laying his hands over my hips until his are aligned with mine.

"Me too," I reply.

"We should do it again. Just not the ending. That kinda scared the hell out of me, if you don't mind me sayin', and I'd like to keep you all to myself for a while."

I blush for what feels like the millionth time, and he curls his finger under my chin to lift my head. Even in the semi-darkness, I can see his chocolate brown eyes, and I'm mesmerized. He leans in and kisses me one last time before pulling me around to my father's car as it sets locked. He waits for me to unlock it and get in to close the door for me, leaning in and touching my nose with his as he whispers.

"I'll call you to make sure you got home okay."

I nod. "Okay."

He steps back then, and after a brief moment of contemplation, I put the car in reverse to pull out of my parking spot. He waves as I leave, and I can't help the goofy grin on my face.

What could possibly top this? And how long will it take us to get to it?

* * *

><p>The house is dark when I pull into the garage, and the only remnants my parents have left me is a note in the foyer written by my mother telling me to lock the front door. I don't think they'd be happy if they knew what I'd done tonight, but at least they didn't wait up for me.<p>

Rose is asleep in my bed when I step into my room, and even though I'm tempted to kick her out, I realize she hasn't really been away from me since she was a baby. She probably missed me even if she knew I was going to be with Charlie tonight.

With that resolve, I pull off my shoes and socks, along with my shirt, before I slide into the bed in front of her. I'm always the one she comes to whenever she can't sleep or when we're having a bad storm, even now, so I can't deny her this one thing. I know she'll be her normal demanding self in the morning, but for right now, she's just my baby sister. I'd do anything for her, and I know I'll be the one to give any of her boyfriends the once-over before they take her out.

She curls into me as soon as I'm close like she always does, and I wrap my arms around her to hold her against me.

"Carlie," she whispers pressing her ear to my chest.

God, how I hate that nickname. I hope she doesn't teach it to anyone else.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Whew! That was close!<strong>_

_***giggle* Well, anyway, that is the second outtake, so I hope you liked it, and I hope you'll tell me what you think, even if you don't like it.**_

_**As said before, this is just little prequel-y thing, but after a while it won't be little anymore - and we all know how that is.**_

_**See ya next time!  
><strong>_


	3. Girlfriends and Bonfires

_**We're just gonna quit callin' these things "outtakes." In reality, they're full-on chapters, and I guess we're gonna have to treat them as such. Besides, I'm loving writing these here with Carlisle and Charlie as much as my other story, why not just have it be a story all by itself?**_

_**A few people have shown interest, so I'll go ahead and post this. There's a lot more, and I think you'll be surprised at how it will turn out.**_

_**I don't own these characters, but by golly, if they haven't begun to own me!  
><strong>_

_**See you at the bottom!  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Girlfriends and Bonfires<strong>_

Little fingers and tiny hands are touching my face when I wake up from a semi-long night, and when I open my eyes, Rosalie is laying in front of me awake — watching me sleep. I can't really express how creepy this is, and as soon as I look at her, she smiles.

"Hey, I know you," she whispers.

I sigh softly, and she cuddles closer. "What are you doing in here, Rosebush?"

"Don't call me that," is the demand that leaves her pouted lips. "I'm not a little girl anymore."

Her tone and her words strike through me, and I lift my head to look at her. "Seriously?"

Her smile widens. "Mom just about freaked out," she confirmed. "Of course, probably not as much I did. And Dad was all weirded out. But she took me to the 24-hour pharmacy to get something until Monday. I sure hope _you_ had a good night."

I remember Charlie and what we did, and I feel my own smile grow. "It was nearly perfect, Rose," I laugh. "He was a perfect gentleman."

Still touching my face, her eyebrows furrow. "Then how was it _nearly_ perfect? Why not just perfect?"

Should I tell her about the assholes who almost assaulted me and Charlie? Will she understand?

"It was just some jerks on the beach," I say carefully. "Charlie was there. Everything was okay."

"Jerks," she repeats. "Like jocks or some shit?"

"Rose," I hiss. "Don't use that language. Mom probably _will_ have nervous breakdown if she hears that come out of your mouth."

"You do it now," she argues.

"I'm older than you."

She huffs. "You're changing the subject," she accuses. "Jerks? Did they try to hurt you? What did they want?"

"They were drunk," I insist. "Charlie was there. He made sure I was okay. They didn't hurt me or Charlie. I promise."

She inhales deeply, leaning closer and nuzzling my neck. "You're my big brother, Carlie," she whispers. "Anything happens to you and I'm toast."

I grin slightly, holding her against me the way I always do. "What about Jasper?"

"Ugh! Don't remind me. Do you know what that little twirp did last night? Those idiots on his soccer team got him drunk! And high! And Dad didn't do a damn thing about it."

I cover her mouth as the last word leaves her mouth, listening outside my room to make sure she didn't wake anyone. "Be quiet," I whisper. "You don't want Mom and Dad to wake up with us in here like this."

"Oh, let 'em sweat," she scoffs. "I know you'll protect me."

I don't say anything back, relaxing and feeling like I could go back to sleep.

After a minute, she lifts her hands to my face so she can look at me. "Yeah," she says. "You're definitely glowing. You're gonna need a girlfriend." A mischievous smile crosses her face. "And I know just the one. Come on," she urges, rising from the bed and grabbing my hand. "If we hurry, she should just be coming out."

I don't like how this sounds, but I'm unable to deter Rosalie as she pulls me to my feet and then out into the hallway.

It's early still, especially with everyone else in the house being asleep. Rosalie stops at her room and grabs a pullover jacket before we hurry downstairs silently. I know where she's taking me as we round the banister in the foyer and make a sharp turn to the back of the house that leads outside. I have to grab a jacket myself since I'm not wearing a shirt, and Rosalie waits for me impatiently before pulling the back door open and stepping outside with me behind her.

Before she can get very far, I pick her up in my arms and carry her down the embankment to the sand. It's not too cold, and there's a salty breeze coming off the water. The sun is just starting the peek through the clouds over the flat horizon of the Atlantic Ocean, and Rosalie swings around onto my back to hold onto my neck.

"Aren't you supposed to be hurting or something?" I ask her. "I thought having your period was supposed to be painful. And don't you have wear those things?"

She sighed loudly against my ear. "Boys are so oblivious," she complains. "Mom gave me some stuff to stop it from hurting, and yes, you stupid moron, I have to wear one of those things. But she found the kind that I can wear and still go swimming. I mean, we do live on the beach."

"So you're not hurting or anything?"

"Not really," she shrugs, and then she points. "Ooh, there she is."

I look in the direction she's pointing, seeing a petite girl with light brown hair also stepping out of her house up the beach dressed in a swimsuit like the ones those Olympic Athletes are always wearing. She's carrying a cap and goggles in her hand.

"Who's that?" I ask.

Rosalie doesn't answer me, smiling and yelling close to my ear. "Jane!"

Now that I'm partially deaf, I can't keep the grin off my face as the petite girl smiles and waves with her goggles still in her hand.

"Hey, Rose! Carlisle!"

I glance at my sister. "How does she know me?"

"She lives here," Rosalie scoffs. "Duh. Don't be rube. Go over and say hi."

With a heavy sigh, I proceed to follow my little sister's instruction, making my way over the sand as Jane is now making her way to us.

"You two are out kinda early for a Sunday," Jane grins. "I thought I was the only one who was awake this time of day."

Rosalie adjusts the way she's setting over my back so Jane can see her a little better. "My brother does everything I tell him," she responds.

The laugh that erupts from my chest can't be stopped, and Jane laughs too.

"Well, that much is obvious." Then Jane looks at me. "You look like you've got your hands full."

I shrug. "She's a monkey. It's not a big deal."

Rosalie wiggles out of my arms and drops to the sand in her water mocassin shoes. She dances between me and Jane, and I feel obligated to make conversation since it's obvious this is what she wants me to do.

"I haven't seen you around school," I say to Jane.

"Oh, I've been training in Miami," she says with a small smile and a twinkle in her brown eyes. "I go there every summer, and this year, my mother decided we should stay until I could swim five miles a day. We stopped at the Athletic Center in Charleston for a few weeks so a scout could watch me."

I nod, impressed. "That's cool. I swim too — recreationally, of course. Are you going to Charleston or Columbia?"

She shrugs. "Not sure yet. Whichever one has the better program, I guess. And what are you going to do in college, if not swim?"

"I want to study medicine," I state proudly. Then I add, "But not around here. I'm really hoping to leave South Carolina to go to college."

Despite my obvious smart remark, she smiles a little wider and steps a little closer. "What's wrong with South Carolina?" she asks. "You live here, don't you?"

"Oh, it's not that," I say quickly. I glance at Rosalie as she still kind of dances between us. "I'm trying to piss my dad off," I reveal, to which she nods and laughs. "Don't tell him I said that."

She zips her mouth and holds up her index and middle fingers. "My lips are sealed."

I laugh myself, folding my arms over her chest and glancing around.

This is the longest conversation I've ever had with a girl my age. It feels weird, but in a good way. It's quiet for a couple of minutes, and Rosalie huffs loud enough for me to look at her.

"Oh, will the two of you just — " she stops and looks at Jane. "You remember what I told you yesterday?"

I look at Jane, and she looks at me, nodding with a knowing expression in her eyes.

"What's going on?" I ask them, bringing my hands to my hips.

Rosalie is fidgeting, glancing at Jane and then me. "Well, after we talked before you left, I went looking for a friend. Jane was coming in after a long day on the surf, so I propositioned her. I fed her and we talked about girl stuff." Rosalie paused and stepped closer to me. "It's okay, Carlie. I told her what we needed, and she's cool with it."

Realization overwhelms me instantly. "You told her?" I yell.

My little sister backs away from me, still fidgeting and biting her lip like she does when she's scared or worried.

"What were you thinking? You don't even know her." I look at Jane to see the smile gone from her face as she watches me berate my sister. "And neither do I." I look at Rosalie. "What's wrong with you?"

After backing away from me, she seems to regain a little of the stubborn attitude that she and I share. "I was trying to help you," she shouted. "Do you really want Mom and Dad to find out? They'll be royally pissed, and you know it. It's why you haven't told them. And I couldn't go to anybody in town. They all know you, and they all know him!"

"And exactly how is she any different? She lives here too, doesn't she?"

Jane chooses this moment to step in. "I don't go to school here," she offers. "My mother home-schools me, and I never really go into town."

I look at her for a minute, wondering exactly what Rosalie told her about me and Charlie. "How old are you?" I ask offhandedly.

"I turned seventeen in September. But I took my exit exams last June, so I'm pretty much done with school until college. My mother wants me to devote my time to swimming."

"And it doesn't freak you out at all? Me being — "

She steps closer, silencing me with her fingers on my lips. "It's okay," she assures me. "You're a nice enough guy — well, you seem like one to still hang around your little sister. And I don't know anyone in town really. Now I have a guide for the year."

I take her hand away, unconsciously holding it in mine. "What about Charlie?"

She smiles and shakes her head. "Who?"

I look at Rosalie, and she's still kind of pissed at me for yelling at her. She purses her lips, and I exhale heavily, reaching for her so she'll know I'm not mad anymore. Her arms wrap around me, and I put my arms around her.

"I'm sorry," I say softly.

She laughs. "I know."

I laugh and shake my head.

"Who's Charlie?" Jane asks, still waiting patiently in front of me.

I look at Rosalie, and she looks at me. Then I look at Jane. "He's my boyfriend."

She nods. "Oh. That's great. Is he cute?"

"He's hot," Rosalie interjects, and Jane laughs louder than she has since we met ten minutes earlier.

I blush deep red after the way I acted in front of her, feeling the need to make it up to her so she'll know I don't usually yell at my little sister. "Are you hungry?" I ask her. "I make a mean cheese-bacon omelet."

"He does," Rosalie praises.

Jane nods again. "That sounds great. Let me just go change."

She moves off toward her house which is the next one south of ours.

As soon as she's gone, Rosalie exhales loudly. "Boy, that was close," she exclaims. "Thank God I was here!"

I turn to her and lay my hands over her shoulders. "You could've warned me, Rose," I chastise. "How was I supposed to know you took it upon yourself to get me a girlfriend?"

She folds her arms over her chest. "Well, it should've been obvious," she states. "I mean, she's kinda pretty in an innocent kinda way, and you both have something in common. Although I will warn you now, she's a distance swimmer, so don't challenge her to any races at the local pool."

I laugh softly. "Damn, that was next on my list!"

Rosalie smirks, but she doesn't have a quick quip in place to challenge mine.

We wait for Jane, and she emerges from the back of her house in jogging pants and her own pullover jacket. She jogs to where we're standing, and together, we all make our way up to the house as it still sets quiet from early morning nothingness.

* * *

><p>Monday at school doesn't really feel much different than the last one, except now teachers are starting to remind us about the Fall break we're getting the week of Thanksgiving. I know my family and I are going to a Council dinner the night before, since both my mother and father are on the town council — but so in Charlie's dad. I wonder if he'll be there, and I'm worried.<p>

In English, Charlie and I are better at acting normal around each other, even when we talk about lessons I know a lot about which causes me to answer a lot of Mr. Berty's questions. After everything that happened Saturday night, I can see a change in his behavior and not just toward me. The guys on the team are riding him about not having a date for some bonfire they're planning the Friday before Fall Break, but he's smooth. He keeps saying he likes being a free agent, and the guys call him a player. At one point during lunch, he actually looks at me and smiles — covertly, of course.

After meeting Jane on Sunday, I feel obligated to tell Charlie so he won't be surprised to see her around. I can already see that Rosalie is becoming friends with her even after a day, and even though she might not always be coming to the house to see me, I know she'll come to see my sister.

But how do I say this?

Do I tell him it was my little sister's idea — and her doing?

Will he be upset that I have to put on a show for my parents with a girl I barely know even though she's really not that bad?

"You're bein' all quiet and everything," he says as we drive away from the school after everyone's left. "Somethin' wrong?"

I inhale deeply. "I don't know if it's wrong," I admit. "But it's different, and I'm worried."

" 'Bout what?"

I glance at him. "You know how you said you dated Renee because she approached you?"

He nods with a confused look on his face. "I remember."

"And it wasn't because you had someone else at the time."

He glances at me. "What's this about?"

"Is it wrong if I have to do that?"

There's no alternate meaning in my words, and as soon as I say it, I know he understands.

We're a few blocks from the school, about to pull onto the road that will take us to my house, and he doesn't say anything until we're actually away from town.

"Who is it?" he asks softly.

"My next door neighbor. While we were gone on Saturday, Rose met her on the beach. She's not really from around here and doesn't go to school here. Rose told her . . . about me, and she was cool with it. I was mad at my sister for doing it without asking me, but she says that I'm glowing. I don't want my parents to think I'm — " I don't know how to say it.

Charlie doesn't respond, and I think I've made him mad.

The rest of the drive is quiet, and he pulls down the road to my house without saying anything. We're about halfway down the road when he suddenly makes a left turn onto another road that's empty. He shuts off the engine and once the dust settles outside, he speaks.

"Is she pretty?"

I shrug. "I guess. I mean, she's nice-looking — for a girl."

"What's her name?"

"Jane," I say quietly.

He smirks and nods. "So, plain Jane, huh?" But I know he's not amused.

I lean closer, wanting to explain better. "My sister says I'm glowing, Charlie," I say, reaching to touch his face.

He pushes my hand away, and I huff sitting back in my seat.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" he asks. "Does she? Can you trust her?"

"I think so," I reply.

"And you just let your twelve-year-old sister pick up the first girl she found so you could play nice with your parents? So they won't think you're doin' something they'll think is wrong?"

I exhale loudly, folding my arms over my chest and looking out the window beside me. "I guess so."

He laughs, and I look at him to see a little smile on his face. "She said you're glowing," he clarifies.

I nod and smile myself. "Yeah."

"Do you like that?"

"That I glow every time after we're together?" He nods. "Of course I do. I don't want it to stop."

"And the only reason you're entertaining this . . . whatever this is your little sister's doin' is so you don't have to stop?"

I reach for his hand and this time, he holds it in his. "I never want this to stop," I swear.

His smile widens, and he looks at me, leaning over the console of his car and lifting his other hand to my face before he kisses me.

It's a little different from how he kissed me on Saturday, but his tongue finds mine, and I can feel it in my toes. My cock immediately hardens, and he moves his mouth to my neck while his hand in mine moves from the console to be between my legs.

"You're gonna drive me crazy, Cullen," he whispers in my ear.

I shiver, and he laughs softly.

"I think I'm gonna have to meet Jane," he offers. "So we're all on the same page. Because you're mine, and if that changes, I wanna know first thing. Got it?"

I nod and arch my hips up in an effort to find his hand.

"How do you feel about dinner tonight with the folks and your, uh, new girlfriend?"

I can't answer him, but he already knows the answer.

He kisses my cheek, leaning back and taking my face in both his hands. "You're almost too innocent," he says.

With little else, he turns the car back on and backs up to the road leading to my house. I don't know what's about to happen, but I know it's going to be interesting to say the least.

I make sure to have my English book with me all the time now, so when Charlie and I step into the house where my mother is setting the table for dinner, she's not surprised to see him.

"Oh, I hope you're hungry," she says. "Rosie's having company too."

Charlie nods, and with that, we move up the stairs to the second floor.

My father's probably outside somewhere, and I can hear Jasper in his room with a couple of his friends. Two voices talking softly is the only noise coming from Rosalie's room. I chance stopping at her doorway and immediately see her and Jane sitting in the floor painting their toenails.

I clear my throat so they know I'm there, and Rosalie looks up.

"Carlie," she exclaims.

Jane looks up with a smile, rising and stepping carefully over the nail polish in the floor to meet me and Charlie.

"You must be Charlie," she greets with her hand outstretched. "I'm Jane. Jane Bennett."

He takes her hand and glances at me. "Charlie Swan. It's nice to meet you."

Jane smiles wider. "Rose has been telling me you're the captain on the soccer team. One of my cousins plays at Columbia."

He chuckles. "Well, at least you're more familiar with it than he is," he nods in my direction.

I blush and put my head down.

"I just thought it'd be a good idea for us to meet," Charlie says. "Since you . . . know about us."

"Oh, it's fine," she assures him. "Rose told me all about it. And it's totally cool."

He looks confused, glancing at me again. "So it doesn't bother you to do this?"

She shakes her head, still smiling. "Why would it? You look nice, and I didn't know a lot of people here. Now I know three," she marvels. "The difference of a few days."

Rosalie clears her throat a little too loudly, and we all look at her. She moves to Jane's side and smirks at Charlie.

"She's here as _my_ guest," she informs us. "And you probably shouldn't be doing this in the doorway down the hall from Jasper. He's starting to develop super hearing."

I bite my lip. "Right. Well, we'll see you at dinner."

I turn then and guide Charlie to my room. Jasper and his two friends are playing another video game, and I slip into my room with Charlie before he can see us.

The door closes before I turn to face Charlie, and he's smiling at me with a devious look in his eyes. I have no time to protest as he steps forward and kisses me. His hands grasp onto my waist, and he tugs me forward until my chest is against his. My tongue seeks his out and finds completion as he delves his tongue inside my mouth. Chills wrack my body, and I'm gripping at his shirt a second before it's instantly gone. Bare skin slips under my fingers teasingly.

Charlie moves his lips over my jaw and then attacks my neck. I don't have to ask what he wants, but we're in my house. My parents are only a floor away. Jasper is just across the hall.

"Wait," I whisper.

He unbuttons and unzips my pants, sliding his hand inside. Warmth pools around my cock, and he kisses me deeper without regarding my plea.

Swallowing my moans seems to be his main priority as he walks me across the room to the doors that open to a balcony outside. I can't deny that I've wanted him to do this all day. Why stop him now?

A knock on my door stops him immediately, and my father's voice follows.

"Carlisle, I need you to come down to the garage and help me with the boxes from the attic," he requests. "You can bring Charlie with you."

Nothing comes after that, and I step away from Charlie, zipping and buttoning my pants. I'm having trouble with my breathing. I can't keep my heart from racing. Charlie waits until I have better control of myself to speak.

"We're definitely gonna have to find a better spot to study," he says with a slight grin. "Especially if I can't seem to keep my hands off you. Come on, Cullen. We shouldn't keep your Dad waiting."

He moves to the door, and slowly, I follow him.

"Jane's kinda cute," he says as we walk. "How did Rose meet her again?"

"Jane is an athletic swimmer," I explain. "She was coming in from the water when Rose met her Saturday after I left. She's been training in Miami."

Charlie nods a lot like I do when he's talking about soccer.

"Rose told me she's a distance swimmer," I continue. "Jane says she can swim five miles a day."

He grins. "And what else does Jane say she can do?" he asks suggestively.

I blush. "It's not like that. Rose just thought it would be cool if we had something in common."

"So you don't think she's cute?"

He stops on the stairs and turns to face me.

I shrug. "I don't know. I guess. What difference does it make?"

He shrugs. "I guess you'll have to figure that out for yourself."

He doesn't say anything else, continuing on down the stairs. I stand still a few seconds, wondering what he's talking about, and then I follow him silently.

It takes nearly an hour to clear out boxes my dad's been accumulating from the attic, and when we're done, my dad releases us from duty to get ready for dinner. I'm sweating and in need of a shower, and I embarrassingly show Charlie to the downstairs bathroom before making my way up to mine.

I'm stepping out of the shower when someone knocks on the door that leads to the hallway, and without thinking of who it might be, I pull on a towel and step to the door to open it. "I'll be just a minute," I say, seeing Charlie there in a pair of my dad's jogging pants and a loose t-shirt.

He's barefoot, and though he's clothed, I can somehow tell he's not wearing underwear. He smiles at me, and when he steps forward to enter the bathroom, I automatically step aside to let him in. I don't even think to check the hallway, closing the door and facing him as I stand here in a towel.

"Shit, Cullen," he admires, stepping closer until we're almost eye to eye. A devious grin spreads across his face, and I know I'm blushing.

"You probably shouldn't be in here," I say sheepishly.

He doesn't speak, pulling his shirt off and then tugging the pants down so that he's naked. I've never seen another guy naked — not even in the showers at the pool where I swim four times a week. I can't hide that I'm pleased, and the smirk on his face tells me he is too. Still not speaking, he steps a little closer, laying his hands over my waist where I'm clinging to the towel keeping me covered.

His hair is wet but not plastered to his head like mine. He smells like Irish Spring and musk, and as he leans in to kiss me, he takes my hand in his and covers his cock with my palm. Heat floods my face, and he slides his tongue inside my mouth to kiss me deeper before he whispers.

"You should know what to do, Cullen," he teases. "Don't tell me you don't ever jack off."

He licks my lips, and silently, I wrap my hand around his cock. It doesn't take much on my part for him to get hard. He groans against my mouth, kissing me deeper and rougher until he's pulling me close enough to pull my towel free so I'm no longer covered. Blood is pumping all over my body — not just to my cock. My heart is pounding in my ears, and my breathing is shallow. I know I'm going to pass out, and the second his hand comes around me, my vision goes white.

Hands grab at my arms, and before I realize what's happening, I'm on the floor and Charlie's above me. The room is spinning, and I have to close my eyes to make sure the floor doesn't swallow me whole.

"Fuck, Cullen," Charlie mutters, rubbing my forehead and tilting my head back.

I inhale as deep as I possibly can, regaining my bearings and feeling more embarrassed than I have since I was fifteen when I made an idiot out of myself in front of the best female swimmer in town.

"You okay?" he asks, still rubbing my forehead and caressing my jaw.

"I think so."

He smirks and leans in to kiss me again, whispering. "I just made you faint," he informs me proudly.

He straightens his arms, on his knees as he hovers over me, and I lower my eyes to look between our bodies. His cock is hanging in the air, and mine is against my lower abdomen. With as slight a movement as possible, he extends his fingers and strokes the back of my cock. Air catches in my throat, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Is this too much?" he asks, leaning down until his lips brush against mine.

I shake my head furiously, and he grins again, still stroking.

"Can you make it through dinner?"

Unconsciously, I know he's asking if I can wait until after we eat for him to do more. I suddenly remember where we are, and I raise up to my elbows. He kisses me one last time before he rises slowly and helps me to my feet.

I watch him pull his clothes on, and together, we step into my room so I can find my own pants and shirt. There isn't much I can say as a way to express how difficult this is going to be, but in the event that someone other than Rosalie walks in on us, I resolve to make myself wait until later.

"Maybe we'll bring Jane with us," Charlie suggests.

Curious, I stare at him. "Why?"

Before he can say anything, a little fist attempting to sound bigger than it actually is hits my door.

"Dinner's ready!" Jasper yells.

With that, Charlie smiles and turns to let me go before him so we can leave my room. I don't know exactly why Charlie would want to take Jane anywhere with us, but I can't figure out how to ask.

So I don't.

* * *

><p>The Friday before our Fall Break starts, our teachers are trying to kill us with assignments they need to have in by the end of the day. All the seniors and most of the juniors are talking about the bonfire that's being planned tonight, and I've had a few girls ask me to go with them. Despite knowing I can't go with Charlie, I keep telling them I already have someone to bring, but in all honesty, I don't really want to go. I don't want Charlie to go either. This will be one night where we don't have to worry about guys from his team seeing us around town if we happen to go anywhere.<p>

I don't feel like I have the right to ask him not to go even though we've been seeing each other for nearly six weeks. It's different since we're both guys, and we live in a tiny town on the beach. People around here wouldn't understand, and more than that, they'd be scared of us. How that has anything to do with the way I feel about Charlie, I have no idea, but I can't risk it.

"Carlisle Cullen, where have you been my whole life?"

I turn around to see the tall, statuesque form of Heidi Knight there in tight jeans and a form-fitting sweater. Heidi is the head cheerleader and usually has a different guy on her arm every other month.

Why is she talking to me?

She smiles, beams, and I'm confused by how interested in me she is now.

"You're coming to bonfire, aren't you?" she asks, stepping closer to me until she's almost on top of me.

"I guess I am," I admit.

She laughs and bites her lip. "Then you can come with me."

I glance around, wondering if she's doing this as a bet. I'm not exactly unpopular, but I don't participate in any of the school's sports, and I'm relatively well-read. And I haven't ever been attracted to a girl before, so this is definitely new.

"I already have someone I'm bringing," I tell her, stepping out of her path of destruction.

"Oh? Who? I'll have to find her and tell her about your plans changing."

I suddenly think of Jane, and knowing I can take her allows me to muster a little more willpower. "She doesn't go to school here," I reveal. "And I already told her I would take her. Sorry."

I close my locker and shut the lock, moving around her slowly.

"It's okay," she says. "I'll see you there."

I can't argue with her on that, moving down the hall to leave the building.

What in the hell just happened?

Not only did the most popular girl in school just come on to me, but she asked me to go to a senior bonfire with her.

What the fuck?

Charlie has to stay late today since he's helping a teacher with test papers, so I decide to walk home. There are no bridges across the inlet of water and mud in the middle of town, but the tide is so low that I can jump across the largest part of it without having to take the long way around to my house. Charlie's house is on the way, but I have to talk to Jane before I even think about doing anything with him right now.

I'm a little freaked out that the head cheerleader decided to ask me out today, and I don't know if I want to leave my house this weekend.

What did I do to make her notice me?

It's not like I'm bright red and flashing like a neon sign.

I practically run home, and I'm out of breath when I fly through the front door. No one's in the front room. I wonder if Jasper and Rosalie are home yet. I look out the window of my room that overlooks the beach, and I can see Jane there on a towel in her athletic suit.

Without thinking of what I'm going to say, I leave my house and make my way to where she's laying.

"Hey," I call.

She opens her eyes and rises to her elbows. "Hey. You home alone?"

"Yeah," I shrug to the house. "Mom hasn't gotten back with Rose or Jasper, and my Dad's probably in town. I, uh, wanted to ask you something."

She gestures to the towel, and I sit down next to her. Her skin is still wet, and her fingers are kind of shriveled from water.

"When are you going to start using the pool in town?" I ask curiously.

She grins. "When someone shows me where it is."

I blush and bow my head. "Oh." I nod. "We'll go in the morning."

She also nods. "That's not what you wanted to ask me," she says.

I look at her. "There's this thing all the seniors and most of the juniors at school are doing tonight since we're all going to be on Break next week — a bonfire."

Her grin widens. "And?"

I laugh nervously. "Um . . . I was wondering if you would go with me."

"You've really never asked a girl out before have you?" she teases.

I shake my head. "No."

She turns to face me and then turns me to face her. "First," she says, "ask me if I want to go."

Confused, I rephrase what I've already said. "Do you want to go to the bonfire?"

She smiles. "Yes, I do. Now, ask me if I _will_ go with you."

Pursing my lips, I can't hide my own smile. "Will you go to the bonfire with me?"

She nods. "Yes, I will."

She holds her hand out, and I take it in mine.

I feel like I've made a deal with the devil, but I can't regret it.

"What time do we leave?" she asks.

I shrug. "There's probably people out there now, but I don't think they're starting the bonfire until it's almost dark."

"Good," she says, rising and then reaching for my hand. She pulls me to my feet and picks up her towel. "Then I have time to change. Are we taking your boat?"

I nod. "Sure."

"Then I'll meet you there in a couple of hours," she assures me.

I smile and turn to leave.

"Carlisle," she says, and I face her again.

She leans up and kisses my cheek, turning to leave and waving as she returns to her house.

The last time a girl kissed me, she tried to shove her tongue down my throat. I guess if I'd been attracted to her, it might've been a little easier to appreciate. But I didn't know her very well, and it was the most awful experience I've ever had. Kissing Charlie feels amazing, and I can't imagine anyone else kissing me the way he does. Jane's kiss on my cheek feels different than I expected it to. It doesn't feel like the way my mom kisses me because she's my mom. And my grandmother is always smothering me.

Jane's kiss actually feels nice.

That scares me.

In the two hours I'm waiting to leave with Jane, my mother comes home with Rosalie and Jasper, and my father brings in bags full of groceries. I don't ask what we're having for dinner, and they don't ask if I'm going to be eating dinner.

Has someone in town told them about the bonfire, and they're just assuming that I'm going?

Rosalie finds me in my room changing out of the clothes I wore to school, and she closes the door to keep Jasper from butting in on us.

"You're going to the bonfire tonight, aren't you?" she asks.

"I suppose I am," I say, pulling on a black Rolling Stones decal shirt I haven't worn since before school started.

"You can't wear that!" she exclaims.

At the thought of her giving me fashion advice again, I move around her to where my shoes are setting to pull them on. "It's just a bonfire, Rose," I remind her. "Not a beauty contest. Those things are usually so stupid anyway."

"But he's going to be there, isn't he?"

Though she doesn't say his name, I know she's talking about Charlie, and I nod. "I suppose he will."

"Then you have to look your best! Wear the deep purple sweater, and don't you dare step foot out of this house in those ugly, old trainers."

I don't make any sudden moves to do anything she asks, and she huffs loudly, moving to my closet and pulling out the shirt she's talking about. Without asking, she climbs onto my bed and proceeds to shove the shirt over my head.

"Oh! Rose, come on!"

"Don't be such a friggin' baby," she chides. "Now put your arms in."

Exasperated, I slip my arms into the thick, cable-knit sweater arms, tugging it down over my black shirt, and she climbs off the bed to look at the shoes in the bottom of my closet. Less than a minute later, she thrusts a pair of mocassin loafers at me and stands back expectantly.

"I'm not wearing these," I argue. "I don't want them to get wet. They'll be stiff as a board in the morning."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Oh, humor me, will you? Live a little."

I don't want to give in, but I know it's impossible to beat her at this. With an annoyed sigh, I slip the shoes on and mockingly hold my arms out for inspection.

"Is this good enough now?" I quip.

She tilts her head one way and then the other, pursing her lips and slitting her eyes. "Eh, it'll do. What time are you going?"

"Well, I told Jane a couple of hours. I figure we'll go out on the boat right around dark. They'll probably have one of the deputies in town keeping an eye on the docks in case the sheriff decides to scope it out."

Rosalie folds her arms over her chest. "Why are you taking Jane? She doesn't go to school here."

"A lot of girls at school asked me to go," I explain, "and I had to tell them something. So I said I already had a date."

"But Charlie's going to be here," she reiterates.

I sigh softly, reaching for her to help her off the bed and then proceeding out of the room with her in front of me. "Yes, he will be," I say quietly so Jasper won't here. "But I can't exactly show up with him, so I'll show up with her. And she wants to go. Maybe she can make a few more friends."

Rosalie pouts, and I stop at the top of the stairs, turning her to face me.

"What is it now?"

My little sister is fidgeting the way she does when she's nervous, and I fold my arms over my chest.

"Rose," I command.

She presses her lips into a thin line and huffs again. "Okay, fine, I don't want her to go because if she meets people her age, then she won't want to hang out with me. There, I said it. Ya happy now?"

I don't mean to smile, but unconsciously, I can't stop myself, pulling Rosalie into my arm and holding her against me. "I'm sure she wouldn't abandon you just because she met some girls her own age. And if she does, then she was never good enough for you. Or me. And we'll drop her like third period French, okay?"

She smiles a little then too, but after a minute, her smile fades and she turns to face me with her arms around my back. "Don't take any shit from those jocks, you got me?" she demands, her voice soft and uncharacteristically needy.

I laugh quietly, holding her closer. "I promise."

After a solid minute of us standing there not talking, she nudged me away. "Go on and get your date," she says. "And be back at a reasonable hour."

I laugh again. "Yes, mother."

With that, we walk downstairs to the first floor.

Rosalie goes off to the kitchen to help our mother, and I'm about to leave when my father calls to me from the living room.

"You're going to the bonfire tonight, right?" he asks.

I move to the archway of the living room, facing him solemnly. "Yes. I'm taking Jane."

He doesn't say anything after that, and I think he's just saying it so he'll know where I am. After a minute, I step away from the living room and leave through the front door.

It's not completely dark when I step outside, but I can see the sun setting through the clouds over the horizon behind my house. I figure it's already five o'clock, and with the tide low, I'll have to walk all the way to the end of the pier stretching out from my house. When it's like this, mud mixes with the sand and gets everywhere. I don't usually like it.

Jane comes out of the back of her house then, yelling inside as she runs.

"Mom, I'll be back later!"

There's no reply, and Jane makes her way to where I've stopped.

She's wearing skinny jeans and an oversized sweatshirt with canvas tennis shoes on. Her long brown hair is braided down her back, and her eyes light up when she sees me.

She's actually kind of pretty like this. I don't think she's wearing any make-up, but her lips are shiny, so I have to guess she's put something on them. I'm glad to see her so excited, and it strikes me as unusual that I never noticed these things about any other girls before.

What does it mean?

Am I attracted to her?

She reaches me after running across the beach, grabbing my hand and leaning into my body. "You look really handsome," she comments with a big smile.

I blush. "Thanks. You look . . . comfortable. I wish I felt comfortable. Rose made me wear this shirt."

Jane leans back to look at me. "I think it makes you look all muscley and strong," she giggles.

I laugh softly. "Well, then I think your shirt makes you look comfortable and . . . perfect."

I'm stunned as soon as the word leaves my mouth, and even though I want to take it back almost as soon as it's out there, I can't. It's true. And Jane is more than pleased by my compliment.

"Very good," she nodded. "Girls always like it when you compliment their clothes without saying something about their bodies. At least, I know I do."

I guide her to the pier slowly. "Why would anyone say anything bad about your body? You've got a pretty good one from what I've seen."

She punches my arm playfully. "Fair enough."

We walk the rest of the way in silence, and when we arrive, I help her down the ladder to the boat before climbing down myself to get behind the driver's seat.

"So," I say to her. "Are we ready?"

She nods. "As ready as we'll ever be."

I don't wait for anything else, starting the engine and pulling away from the pier to turn around in the water so we're facing the right direction.

Bonfire, here we come.

On the way, Jane and I talk about pretty much anything we can think of. She tells me about how her mother has her future all mapped out with an Olympic Gold Medal to top it off 'x' number of years from now, and they travel to every good Olympic-regulation pool in the country so she can have the best facilities to train in. She says she hasn't been to a real school since she was seven when they discovered she could swim long distances without getting tired.

The idea of distance swimming intrigues me, but I can't swim more than 400 meters at a time on a good day.

Since Jane hasn't been living next door to me this whole time, I tell her about when Hugo came through six years ago. It isn't something I like to brag about, but my house was one of the few that survived the brunt of the storm. Unlike a lot of other houses that fell to the storm, ours was spared. The house Jane is living in is less than six years old, but with it being built with newer materials, it's likely to survive another storm like Hugo.

I can see this impresses her by the way she's smiling, and I'm surprised to discover that I like impressing her.

I can't understand why I like it.

She's a girl.

I don't like girls.

Do I?

"We had to replace parts of our roof," I say as we speed around the bay toward Cape Island. "Our basement flooded, and my old bike washed away. We didn't have power for weeks. I think Jasper nearly went insane because he couldn't watch tv every morning."

Jane smiles. "What about Rose?" she asks.

The fact that she uses my sister's shortened name strikes me as interesting, and I smile with her. "We went through my Shakespeare collection. My dad bought a really old set of comedies and tragedies, and he brought them home probably a month before the storm hit. I was only eleven, but I loved it — even then. And all she cared about was listening to me read."

"What was her favorite?"

I didn't have to think about it. "A Midsummer Night's Dream. It made her laugh."

Jane laughs softly. "Well, that settles it," she asserts.

I glance at her. "What?"

"You are probably the best big brother in the entire world," she exclaims.

For some reason, I'm embarrassed. Not even my parents have ever praised me for being a good brother. I know I'm good with Rosalie, but Jasper and I have always been at odds. I don't think it has anything to do with the way I feel around guys, but Jasper's never really understood me. But he's my brother. If asked, I would probably do anything for him.

After taking the north side of Muddy Bay and then making our way through Horsehead Creek, we come to the north side of Cape Island, and from here, I can see a small fire illuminating a row of dirt bikes. There aren't any people around, but once we're docked on the bank and have the boat anchored, I help Jane to the beach so we can get our own bike.

"Is this normal for people around here?" she asks as I climb onto a red and blue Honda XL250.

"A few weeks out of the year," I confirm. "Mostly, it's just the seniors that come out here. I came to a couple in mid-July when it wasn't storming. They have one at the end of the year and on the last break before Christmas."

She grins curiously. "And that would be tonight?" she verifies.

I nod. "Yep."

With a heavy sigh, she climbs onto the back of the back and wraps her arms around my waist.

"Don't worry," she whispers, causing the little hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. "I know you're taken. But if I want to make it to my first party, I gotta have somethin' to hold onto."

I grin at her and turn the key to gun the bike's engine.

With a loud hum, it bursts to life, releasing exhaust in a thin billow of smoke behind us. I nod again, and she holds onto me tighter a second before we set off for the other side of the island where everyone else is already sinking deep into a drunken fiesta.

The air is salty and cool, humid and heavy. The last time I was out here, it was the middle of the summer and close to eighty-five degrees. A lot of the girls were in bikinis, and a lot of the guys were lucky to be wearing pants. I think I was the only single guy there, watching all of it from a tree stump and trying desperately to keep everyone from seeing the hard-on I had the whole time with all those half-naked guys running around. Tonight, I'm pretty sure everyone's going to be clothed, but this time, I'm almost fairly positive there will be a lot more drinking, groping and guys from the football team playing tag with the guys from the soccer team.

This could get dicey.

Just as the bonfire comes into view, I see another row of bikes at the edge of the area already "marked off" for the party. The front of Jane's body is pressed to mine, and I'm vaguely aware of how tight she's holding onto me. As soon as I start to slow down though, she lets go and lowers her hand to my waist.

"Is this everybody?" she asks softly.

I glance around the gathering of people around the fire and the branched-off group organizing a game of tag. "I think so."

From where I am, I can see Heidi talking to the quarterback of the football team Felix. They're mildly fondling each other, and I hope this means she's forgotten about me.

We park, and just like I did last time, I leave the key in the ignition since the possibility of us using this bike to get back to my boat is slim to none. Jane climbs off, and I follow her before she reaches for my hand. Under this kind of a charade, I usually feel awkward, and I should since Jane and I haven't known each other that long.

I actually feel surprisingly comfortable with her, taking her hand in mine and even sliding my fingers through hers. She giggles a little, and I shrug.

"What? I invited you. Around here, that's serious."

She smiles and shakes her head, lifting her other hand to my arm and allowing me to pull her toward the bonfire.

It's loud with music thumping against the ground hard enough to make it shake, and there's a row of beer kegs lined up adjacent to where all the bikes are parked. A table with cups and ice is set up next to the kegs, and an old charcoal grill is smoldering next to the table. There's food, and Jane and I find all the makings for hamburgers and hot dogs set out for consumption. I'm surprised it's all still hot. Absently, I look around for the cook.

And then I see Charlie.

He's wearing his letterman jacket and a thin-looking grey t-shirt with dark jeans and moccasins, and he's holding a clear cup of beer in his hands. He's talking to one of the guys from the soccer team. I don't think he's seen me yet.

"Are you going to eat?" Jane asks me close to my ear.

I turn back to her. "Sure."

Together, we make our own hamburgers and grab two cups of beer. I don't usually drink — or smoke or sleep around like a lot of the people here, but I decide I should blend in. If nothing else, it will keep anyone from seeing something suspicious about me.

Once Jane and I have our food and drinks, we weave our way through the crowd to where a few wood tables have been set up. I remember these being here in July, and I still can't wrap my head around how they got here. I guess I'll never know.

Not that I care or anything.

"Carlisle!"

I turned my head to see Heidi flagging me down with a wine cooler in her hand.

"I want a dance later," she giggles.

I blush easily, and Jane laughs over her burger.

"Who's that?" she asks.

"Head Cheerleader," I mutter.

That's all we say the whole time we're eating, and I don't do anything to change that.

The food and beer is gone before either of us realizes it. With food in my stomach, the beer has only begun to settle into my body, so I'm not dizzy yet. Jane finishes off her cup, nodding that she wants more, and I offer to get another without thinking of the distance I have to walk to get back to the kegs.

I'm steady on my feet as I walk, the ground only slightly vibrating now as a slow R&B song blasts through hidden speakers. I make it to the kegs and get fresh cups, filling one cup to the brim just as unfamiliar arms wrap around my waist and a perfectly-manicured hand cups my crotch.

"You don't really expect me to believe you're dating that little girl," Heidi hums in my ear. "A strong man like you."

She squeezes me through my pants, but I'm still sober enough to be pissed. I shrug out of Heidi's arms and back away from her.

"That's my girlfriend you're insulting," I accuse. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't do that."

She giggles and holds her hands out in a mock-surrender. "Okay, okay. If you like them short and flat. I mean, is that her natural hair color?"

I know she's drunk, and I'm trying desperately to get away from her. I step to one side and she follows me, grabbing my waist and pulling me against her until my crotch is against hers. She's trying to get a rise out of me — literally, I think.

"You're drunk, Heidi," I say. "I think you've had enough."

She knocks the cups out of my hand and spills beer over my shirt and jeans, giggling again and reaching out to unbutton my jeans. It takes all of my strength not to grab her and shove her away, but then she grabs my head and rams her face into mine.

Her breath stinks of beer and salt, and I'm mildly disgusted, pushing her away so that she's at arms' length.

"Get off me," I order.

This time, when I side-step her, she misses grabbing my shirt, stumbling to the ground as I walk away. I'm still relatively clear-headed, and I don't want to talk to anyone but Charlie right now. I wouldn't be coming here if it weren't for him, and I want him to know that.

Before I can find him again, I hear Jane yell.

"You're hurting me!"

My eyes scan the whole party for her, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her struggling against Felix as he holds her against a tree trunk. No one else is stopping him, and for once I don't care if he's bigger than me. I brought Jane, and if I hadn't, he wouldn't have seen her. I'm not letting him hurt her just because he can.

"Let go of me," Jane yells.

I'm closer now, pushing people out of my way and getting close enough to grab him and push him away from her.

"She told you to let her go," I shout. "Stop taking steroids for a fucking minute and listen to people when they talk."

He's a lot bigger than me, and now I can see he's just as drunk as Heidi. I'm feeling mildly set up, and I'm even angrier now than I was a few minutes ago.

"It's not like she's your girl or anything," he slurs, grabbing her again and pressing her to his side. He fondles her and lays his face in her neck.

Jane tries to push him away, but he's four times bigger than she is.

I push him again, and he stumbles the way Heidi did. "Leave her alone," I yell. "And she is my girl. I wouldn't have brought her if she wasn't. At least I have one and I don't have to screw the cheerleading squad."

He grins in a taunting way, shoving Jane away and then lunging at me. His shoulder slams into my gut, knocking the wind out of me, and less than a second after we fall to the ground, his fist makes contact with my cheek.

Sharp, immediate pain radiates through my face, and I feel like the bone is broken. Instinctively, I shove my knee up into his crotch, and he groans before falling away with his hand covering his balls. My face is throbbing, and I think I'm going to have a black eye, but I don't care.

"Stay away from her," I shout.

I get up to my feet, looking around to see half of the people at the party looking at me. One of them is Charlie. I turn around to help Jane, and without much more than that, I take her hand and pull her away from the crowd.

"I'm sorry," she says once we're far enough away so no one will hear us. "He just grabbed me, and I told him I wasn't interested. But he didn't care. I didn't mean to — "

I stop and turn to her. "Don't apologize," I command. "It wasn't your fault. Felix is an asshole, and he's a fucking whore when he's sober. I shouldn't have left you alone. I couldn't let someone hurt you when it's my fault you're here."

She grins and bows her head. "I've never had anyone come to my rescue like that. Thanks."

"Well, of course I came to your rescue," I shrug. "You're my girl."

She bites her lower lip and steps closer. I pull her along, and without picking up another bike, we start the long walk back to my boat.

It's dark and breezy. I'm wishing I'd brought a jacket at least. Jane holds me close to her to share body warmth. I've never been this protective of a girl who wasn't my sister. No matter what I feel for Charlie, I'm really starting to like Jane. She's nice and considerate, and she doesn't have any problems with me wanting to be with a guy. I imagine she and I will actually have a lot to talk about where guys are concerned.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asks as we walk.

I think of the one girl I got locked in a closet with, and I can't imagine saying she was anything but an embarrassment no one knows about. "No." I shake my head.

"So you've never kissed a girl?"

I press my lips together. "No, I have," I admit. "But it wasn't — She wasn't what I wanted. So I didn't like it."

"Did you always like guys?"

I look at her, and even in the darkness, I know she's smiling. I nod. "Yeah. But Charlie's the first one I've dated."

"He seems like a really nice guy. And if nothing else, he should be nice."

Something in her voice makes me think she has more than some experience, and my curiosity is piqued. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

The smile on her face falls. "Yeah. Alec. He died in a car accident about nine months ago."

I stop and face her. "I'm sorry. Were you serious?"

She shrugs. "Probably more than my mother liked to believe. We grew up together. People sometimes thought we were too close. He was like my other half. He was on the water polo team, and they were coming home from a meet when a freight truck swerved into their lane. Alec and one of the guards were killed on impact. The rest of the team was all injured. The ones I talked to said he was asleep."

A tear slips down her cheek at the last word, and I can't not hold her, pulling her inside my arms and comforting her since I'm the one who made her remember this. I'm afraid to ask her anything else, but after a minute, she speaks.

"I loved him. We were going to Columbia together as soon as my exit exams came through. He was gone three months before I took them. My mom said I needed to train to get my mind off of it. But in the water, he's all I can think about." Then she leans back to look at me. "Until I met you and Rose. Even Charlie. You've all helped more than you'll ever know." She leans up slowly until her arms are around my shoulders, and I don't know what to do as she kisses my cheek and then gently kisses my lips.

I'm afraid of her sticking her tongue down my throat, but instead, she lowers back to the ground and smiles.

"Thank you."

Relieved, I smile back. "For what?"

She shakes her head. "Being you. You're amazing, Carlisle."

My faces heats up, and the throbbing in my cheek intensifies. She lifts her hand to my face.

"We should get some ice on that," she suggests.

I don't argue with her, and with that, we're walking again.

My boat never looked so welcoming, and I help Jane on board before I shove off the bank to get us into the water. I climb in once we're mobile, slipping behind the driver's seat and turning on the engine.

Anywhere else and I'd be lost, but here, I'm home. I weave my way back through the bay, and Jane is silent beside me the whole way. I wonder what she's thinking about, and I realize that I'm thinking about her. She kissed me different from how I've been kissed in all my life. This is even more terrifying than when Charlie closed us in the walk-in closet in my house. What I am supposed to do?

I spot the lights at the end of the pier to my house easily, gently pulling in to grab the rope for my boat and then switching off the engine. Once we're stationary, Jane climbs out, and I follow her slowly. She walks up to my house with me. I don't even know what time it is, but I have covert ways of getting into my house without my parents or Jasper seeing me. Jane follows me through the dark part of the house to the kitchen, and after getting a handful of ice, she lays it in a dish towel and lifts it to my cheek.

The pain is just as bad now as it was when I got it, and I know I'm going to have a bruise in the morning. My mother's going to freak out. My father will be disappointed. At least they will until they hear why my face looks like a piece of meat.

"My hero," Jane whispers as she cradles my face against the ice pack.

I smirk. "Very funny."

She finds Tylenol, and with that and a glass of water down the hatch, she deems me well enough to go to bed.

I walk her out to the beach between our houses, and once we're alone, she teases me.

"You're going to be really good at this boyfriend thing," she insists. "Don't let the nay-sayers tell you any different."

I laugh. "Yeah, I'll stay away from head cheerleaders from now on. And if you still want, we can go to the pool in town. They have fresh towels in the mornings, and there's a sauna attached."

"Oh, so I can sweat before I swim?" she laughs.

I shrug. "I guess."

She smiles again and leans up to kiss my cheek. "You just get some sleep. Tomorrow morning will take care of itself. Goodnight."

Something in me tells me to kiss her cheek, so I do. "Goodnight."

She steps away with a soft laugh, and she waves as she hurries across the sand to her house.

I wait until she's inside to step back into my own house. Noise from the living room drifts to the back of the house, and I'm hoping my parents and siblings are in the living room where they won't miss me if I go upstairs and take a shower.

The water's warmer than usual, and steam fills the bathroom easily. I think about Charlie and what he saw tonight. Surely, he has to know that I'm not some prick who's going to let an asshole take advantage of a nice girl — whether she's mine or not. I hope he understands that I felt responsible for Jane and nothing else.

As soon as I'm out of the bathroom, I step into my bedroom to change for bed. I'm beat despite having only hung around the bonfire a couple of hours. All I really want is to go to bed.

A peck at the doors to the balcony catches my attention, and I move toward them slowly, discovering Charlie there alone. I open the doors as quietly as I can.

"What are you doing out here?" I whisper.

Without saying anything, he pulls me closer to him and kisses me, pressing the front of his body to mine. His tongue finds mine, and we battle for control until he leans back to lay his forehead over mine.

"You really are a knight in shining armor, aren't you?"

He smiles, and I have to laugh.

"I wasn't going to let him touch her like that," I admit. "She's nice, and she doesn't deserve that. Not after what I just found out."

He steps away from me and closes the doors to my room so we're on the balcony alone. "And what is that?"

I kiss him then, hoping to avoid giving him information he doesn't need. He lowers his hands down my back to my waist, and then he palms my ass to pull me closer. I try my hand at groping him, rubbing his shoulders and turning his back to the railing.

He laughs softly and leans back. "Hold it there, partner," he chuckles. "Slow down. What did you find out about Jane?"

I sigh heavily, remaining close to him as I speak. "She had a boyfriend before she came here," I reveal. "He died, and we're the first ones to help her heal. And Rose. I didn't realize she was so fragile until tonight. I couldn't let Felix hurt her when it was my fault she was there."

Charlie lifts his hand to my bruised cheek, and for a second, I think he's mad. Then he smiles again. "It's a start," he nods.

I don't know what he means, so I don't say anything back, opting to kiss him and hold him instead. I can feel him getting hard through his jeans, and I want to feel him for real. So far, he's only touched me. I want to touch him.

He slides his tongue down my neck and nibbles on my Adam's apple, slipping his hand inside my jogging pants and wrapping his fingers around my cock. Air catches in my throat, and he starts stroking me slowly. The palm of his hand grazes the head of my cock, and the waist of my pants drops below my ass.

Somehow, he remembers the last time he did this while I was standing up, and he makes me sit on the deck chair in the corner of the balcony. Cool air caresses my skin as he pulls my jogging pants all the way off, and I'm tempted to pull my shirt off. The minute he starts stroking me again, I forget about it and lay my hands over the chair arms.

So far, he's only touched me with his hands. He hasn't given me a blow job yet, but the way I'm sitting and the fact that he just pulled off my pants makes me think he's about to do it. I don't have to wait long for him to start as he leans forward while still stroking me and extends his tongue to lick the head of my cock. The contact makes me jump, but I'm much better at controlling my vocal chords and my body. I barely make any noise, watching him lick at me and then lay wet kisses along the side of my cock.

He still strokes me and gently cups my balls in his hand as he leans back to face my cock and licks me again. His lips close in on my throbbing tip, pressing at the slit and then opening so he can close his lips around me.

It feels a thousand times more amazing than anything I've ever felt in my life. His mouth is warm and wet and pulsing, and he squeezes my balls while swirling his tongue around the head of my cock. Hot chills slide up and down my chest and my back, and I have to take my shirt off. I'm completely naked as he lifts to his knees to face me, only to lower his mouth further over the whole length of me. He strokes me with his tongue and leans back before again lowering his mouth over my cock. His nose grazes my lower abdomen, and the tip of my cock hits the back of his throat. This happens enough times for me to lost my breath, and I instinctively thrust my hips, feeling the cool paint of the wood chair sticking to my wet skin as I grip the chair arms and . . .

I can't hold on any longer, coming in Charlie's mouth and feeling his hands on my hips as I come down from a pretty amazing orgasm. I've never had one like that before, and I can see in Charlie's eyes that he knows that. He leans back, and my spent cock slides out of his mouth. For a minute, I don't know what to do. Then he pulls his own jacket off along with his shirt.

I watch him stand and disrobe, sitting up in my chair and reaching for his waist to unbuckle his belt and unfasten his jeans. He kicks his shoes and socks off, and with a nod from him, I pull his jeans and underwear down in one movement.

He's hard and nearly as big as I am, and there's so much I want to do.

Last time, I barely got a good feel of him, and I can't hide how eager I am as I wrap my hand around him and begin stroking him. He caresses my bruised cheek. I can see the resolve in his eyes to do something about it, but he never says anything. His fingers rake through my hair, and I increase my stroking. Steadying himself on his feet, Charlie tilts his head back, swaying his body to rhythm of my hand and rubbing his own hand over my shoulder.

Charlie is better at holding onto his release than I am, and when I see the head of his cock glisten with pre-cum, I instinctively lean forward to lick it. He jumps, startling me, and I lean back to look at him.

"Is it okay?" I whisper.

He's panting and swallowing. "Well, yeah. But are you sure?"

I nod. "I'm sure."

He bites his lip and smiles, nodding and stroking my hair.

I keep stroking him, leaning forward like I did and licking his wet tip. I remember what he did, and I try to mimic it, swirling my tongue around his head. He tastes salty, and I suddenly connect the way his tastes to the way Heidi tasted when she kissed me. Charlie's fingers grip my hair, and I suddenly forget about her. All I want is standing in front of me right now.

I close my lips around him gently, still stroking his length and squeezing a little as I go down. He sways his hips back and forth until he rocking on his feet. I'm not overwhelmed or even worried, doing to him what he did to me and lowering my mouth over his cock. I've never done it before, but it feels the way his mouth just did when he sucked on me.

"Shit, Cullen," Charlie groans. "You really are a fast learner."

I rub my lips over the velvet texture of his cock, moving my tongue along the underside of him and feeling him speed up his rocking. My nose touches the skin of his stomach, and I lean back to look at him.

"I really like this," I tell him.

He grins smugly, still caressing my cheek. "Well, I was likin' it too up until you stopped."

I flick my tongue at his head, and he grins wider.

I lean in to start over, licking him and then closing my lips around him to lower my mouth down his length. We make it back to the rhythm we had before, and even though I think I can handle it, he won't move hard enough to go into my throat. I wonder why, but after more of his rocking than I can keep up with, I feel his cock twitch in my mouth. His balls tighten slowly, and he grips at my hair again, the rocking of his body jerky and hurried.

He pulls out of my mouth and falls to his knees in front of me, kissing me and thrusting his tongue into my mouth as he groans and grunts against me. Somehow, I know what he's doing, and though I'm curious why, I find it oddly comforting that he didn't come in my mouth. I don't know how I'll react the next time or what he'll feel like doing, but right now, this feels pretty amazing.

The panting and groaning dies down until he lays his forehead against mine and whispers. "You really are good, you know that?"

I grin myself, and he leans back to look at me.

"I wonder about you sometimes," he reveals.

I shake my head. "Why?"

He shrugs. "I just do. You're so . . . oblivious to the effect you have on people. And you're so damn innocent. I mean, shit, you make me feel like a old man knowin' all this stuff and having to teach it to you."

I lean in closer and kiss him. "You're a very good teacher," I whisper.

He kisses me back. "I can't stay," he confesses. His voice sounds sad, and I'm disappointed. "But we have all week. I swear. No excuses."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I taunt with a smile.

For several minutes, neither of us moves. I don't want him to go, but I don't want us to get caught.

He looks so beautiful kneeling in front of me, but I know he has to be getting cold by now.

"Why did you come here tonight?"

He shrugs. "I saw you with Jane, and I don't know. I guess I got jealous that she could talk to you and hold your hand without anybody sayin' anything. And then I saw Heidi grab you, and Felix hit you. Those two are definitely gonna be on my shit list from now on."

I blush and lift my hand to his face. "I made you jealous," I inform him somewhat proudly.

He kisses me a little harder than a few minutes earlier. "Like I said, Cullen. You're mine," he claims.

I make no statement to counter it.

He's right.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Long Chapter-like entry, big finish. :-D Now, come on, I know we're all reading, and it's not too hard to give me a little love now that things are moving along with Carlisle and Charlie. And how about Jane, huh? Talk about a little OOC, and don't worry. I'm not envisioning Dakota Fanning here.<strong>_

_**Also, I've got a poll on my page for you to help me decide what to post. Go vote!**_

_**See ya next time!  
><strong>_


	4. Holiday Love

_**Here's another chapter for Charlie and Carlisle. This is actually the first half of it, since it's actually a lot longer than the other three were, and I think they're only going to get longer. These guys, along with Jane, keep showing me more of what happened when they were teenagers, and hey, I feel compelled to let all of you reading see it as much as I feel compelled to write it.**_

_**Things get a little more complicated in this chapter - in this half and the one coming up - so don't say I didn't warn you. I'm really liking writing these two, and I'm glad a few people are enjoying it too.**_

_**Usual warnings for this stuff applies. If you're not 18, don't read it. And I don't own the characters. I just like to make them play with each other.  
><strong>_

_**See you at the bottom!  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Holiday Love<strong>_

It's the day before Thanksgiving before I realize it. Only four days separate me from when school starts back until Winter break, and even though I know it'll have to go back to the way it was before, right now, it feels pretty good to pretend. Especially since I'm currently laying on a soft bed in an old barn several miles from home with Charlie's chest beneath my ear. The day after the bonfire — and after I showed Jane the swimming pool house in town — Charlie showed me this place so we could come here to be alone.

There's a fireplace and wood burning to keep us warm. A fleece blanket covers me from the elements, and Charlie is rubbing my scalp with his fingertips. It's raining outside, and the top of the barn is drafty. I don't care.

"I'm hungry," he says.

I lift my head and set my chin on his chest. "We'll have to get dressed."

He grins, and I rise up to my hands to crawl over him. Once my face is above his, he lifts to his elbows until our lips meet. Slowly, his tongue slips inside my mouth, and I give him more control than I have since our first time kissing. Propping himself up on one elbow, he lowers his other hand down my chest and then strokes the line of hair over my lower abdomen.

Chills shake my body. Cold air seeps into the gap between us, and he wraps his hand around my cock. Blood rushes to the center of the body. My heart is pounding, and I'm losing control over my breathing. He starts to stroke me, squeezing me and allowing his palm to graze over the head of my cock.

"Shit," I hiss.

He kisses my jaw and whispers. "Watch your language, Cullen," he teases. "People are gonna start noticing."

He nibbles on my neck, stroking a little faster and squeezing a little tighter.

"I don't care," I moan.

Unconsciously, I start moving with his hand, chills slipping up all over my skin and causing a smile to spread across my face.

He lets go intermittently, still stroking me but also stroking himself. I realize this when the tip of his cock touches mine. It feels so amazing — more amazing than when his tongue touches me. He's hard like I am, and before long, the length of my cock is rubbing against his.

"Shit, you've done this before," I moan, squeezing my eyes shut and gripping the sheets in my clenched fists.

He still kisses my neck, licking my collarbone and slipping his fingers just behind my balls. A new set of chills slip up my spine, and I open my eyes to see him watching me even while he kisses my jaw again.

"You want me to?" he asks, pleading with a deep, lust-filled voice.

I'm uncertain. Up to now, he's only stroked my cock and sucked on me. So far, that's all I've done to him. He's never even really alluded to wanting to do something remotely close to this, but I can't deny that I'm curious.

"Will it hurt?" I ask dumbly.

He grins. "I guess that depends on how well I keep you relaxed."

Blood rushes to my cheeks, and he leans closer to kiss me, allowing his finger a little further up my crease. Tingles ignite up my back, and the tip of his finger makes contact with my ass hole. Never in my life have I ever imagined I would ever let anyone touch me like this, and for several seconds, I'm conflicted. Is it okay if I let him do this? If he goes this far, I know without a doubt that I won't be able to keep it off my face when I see him at the Council dinner tonight.

Gently, his finger slips just inside me, and just that sensation makes me come.

"Fuck," I whisper harshly.

Charlie laughs softly as I continue to shoot streams of cum all over him. "That's it," he whispers back, still stroking my ass hole and kissing my neck again.

I grunt and groan through the rest of my orgasm, and I have trouble catching my breath as Charlie releases my body and lays back down. My limbs feel like wet noodles, and I lay down next to him still trying to breathe deep enough to stop panting. I notice he's still hard, and though I don't know if I have the energy to do anything else, I reach for him only a minute after laying down.

He jumps at the contact, and I start stroking him while leaning closer to kiss his cheek.

"I don't even want to know who showed you to do that," I breath into his ear.

He groans low in his throat, turning his head and kissing me as he lifts his fingers to my face. "I was fifteen the first time," he moans. "I couldn't look my father in the face for over a month. The guy I was kinda seeing left for college then. I never saw him again."

I speed up stroking him, moving my mouth to his neck and then his shoulder. I don't let go of his cock, sliding my lips and tongue over the side of his body until I'm kissing his hip. In one swift movement, I lift up to my hands to face his erect length, extending my tongue and licking his tip. Only a minute passes as I do that before I close my mouth around him and then lower my lips over his velvety shaft.

He fills my mouth until the tip of his cock touches the back of my tongue, and he lowers his hand to my head to push me back. He's done this the last several days, and I'm a little annoyed that he keeps stopping just short of it. I lean back before he can let go of his own orgasm, eyeing him reproachfully.

"I can do it too," I gripe.

He rises to his elbows. "I know. I just — You're so innocent and shit, and I kinda like you this way. And besides, how do you know I'm ready for you to do it?"

"You were almost there," I accuse. "I saw it on your face."

He exhales heavily, rubbing his own hand over his cock and groaning as he strokes himself while we argue. His head falls back, and I lean forward, kissing his neck and replacing his hand to take over. Instead of laying back, Charlie stays on his elbows to watch me.

I lower my mouth over his cock again, stroking him with my tongue and lifting my eyes to look at him. He bites his lip, and his nostrils flare. We make it back to the rhythm we had before he stopped me, and gently, the tip of his cock touches the back of my tongue. I lift my hands to his balls, squeezing and stroking as I keep sucking on him. Just as the tip of my nose touches his lower abdomen, I feel the head of his cock slip into my throat.

I've never done it before, but somehow, it feels like having a hot, pulsing poker against my skin. I gag a little, but I'm determined not to screw this up anymore. He's done it to me enough times for me to know how it feels. I want to do the same to him.

His balls tighten as I suck on him, and I watch his head fall back again as his cock twitches in my mouth. I don't let him pull away, holding him in place as he comes even more beautifully than he did the first time almost a week earlier.

"Shit, Cullen," he groans. "Fuck, you're really good at this. It's almost wrong. Oh, fuck!"

Hot, thick streams fill my mouth, and I take all of it until he relaxes over the bed beneath him. I lean away from him, licking the underside of his cock and then rising to my hands despite my arms being weak. I watch him pant and grin and moan softly, laying over his side and kissing his cheek again.

"You taste good," I whisper against his skin.

He laughs, still relaxing, and I sprawl myself across his chest, laying my ear over the left side to listen to his heart. It's still pounding, and as it stills, a creaking board takes our attention away from each other. Charlie nudges me up, and then he rises to his elbows. Half a minute passes, and no other sounds reach our ears. Then another creak slips up to where we're laying, and Charlie sits up to grab our clothes.

"Carlisle!"

Jane's voice startles me, but Charlie relaxes and lays back down as her approaching steps find the ladder to the loft we're laying inside.

"I hope you two are at least covered! I'm coming up."

Within a minute of giving her final warning, her brunette head pops up from the floor boards. It's not dark, with light seeping in through cracks in the wood, and as soon as she looks in our direction, her eyes widen a little. Then she smiles.

"Obviously I've interrupted something," she jokes, coming closer and seeming a little too comfortable with the fact that Charlie and I are both sitting — laying in his case — naked on the bed in front of her.

"What's going on?" I ask. "What are you doing here?"

"It's almost four," she reminds me. "We have to get ready for the dinner that your mother invited me to. And I thought you might want a heads up that your father told me to get you ready since he thinks you're at my house."

"Cullen, you seriously need one of those cellular phones I keep hearing all the rich people in town talking about getting," Charlie quips, rising to his elbows as the blanket covering him barely covers him to his hips with his bare leg hanging out suggestively.

I'm not angry at Jane for coming out here. So far, she's the only other person who knows, but I'm mad that I have to leave Charlie.

"Turn around," I tell Jane, gesturing with my head for her to not watch me get dressed.

There isn't much else for me to do. If my father says it's time to get ready, then I have to go. I know I'll see Charlie at the dinner even if I won't be able to talk to him the way I want to. We'll probably say hello to each other, and his father will probably talk to mine. But that'll be it. Trust me when I say it royally sucks ass.

As soon as I'm dressed in the jeans and sweatshirt I was wearing when Charlie and I left Jane's a few hours earlier, I sit down to put my shoes back on. He sits up behind me, pressing his chest into me and whispering in my ear.

"Even if you take a shower, I'm gonna be all over you for the rest of the night."

Chills shake my body, and he leans closer to kiss the edge of my jaw. After a minute, he lifts his mouth and sucks on my ear lobe. Lightly, he nips the end with his teeth, laying away from me with the blanket still barely covering him. I glance at him, tying my shoes and rising to step away form the bed.

"See you later, Jane," he waves.

She glances over her shoulder at him and smiles, waving.

Charlie smiles at me, and with little else, I guide Jane away from him so we can leave.

I lower myself down the ladder, helping her and pulling her to the barn doors, and just before I step outside, I turn back to see Charlie standing at the railing naked with a promising look on his face. He nods, and I know what he's saying, ducking out of the barn with Jane and into the cool late afternoon as it drizzles lightly.

"I can see you enjoyed yourself," Jane says as we mount the dirt bike I took from the docks the morning after the bonfire.

She scoots closer to me as I turn the engine over, and without answering her, I put the bike in gear to shoot off toward the highway that will take us back toward town.

"Are you mad?" she asks over the hum of the bike.

I glance at her and see a little fear in her eyes. I smile as quickly as I can. "Not at you."

She holds onto me tighter, turning her face from the wind and laying her head down. I never think to ask her how she got out here, but since my father told her to perform her task, I'm guessing she walked. It's only about four or five miles, and I know she could walk it easily.

Thankfully for me and Jane, I can turn off the highway before we make it to town, and as I take the road that will end just before we get to my house, Jane lifts up and kisses my cheek. I'm not sure why she did it, but I only glance at her still smiling. Just in the last week or so, I've spent as much time with her as I have with Charlie now that we're going to the pool every morning.

She really is a distance swimmer, and she keeps challenging me to swim as much as she does. I'm out of breath before I can get to 350 meters, and she's usually swimming around me while I rest. Sometimes, early in the morning now, she reminds me of a shark circling its prey. She thinks it's great that Charlie and I have this spot where we can go now, but sometimes, I look at her like there something else going on in her head.

Does she like me? Do I like her — the way I like Charlie?

We make it to her house less than ten minutes after leaving the barn, and we slip through her house without her mother seeing us so I can go upstairs and take a shower. I left my clothes for the dinner here when Charlie came by to get me, and they're setting on the counter when I emerge from the shower ten minutes after stepping inside.

I'm pulling my shirt on over my pants when I see a red mark on my neck just above where my collar lays. Upon further examination, I realize Charlie must've sucked on me a little too hard.

Holy shit. I have a hickey.

What am I supposed to do? Do I cover it up? Would that be right?

"You didn't fall in, did you?" Jane calls through the door.

I huff loudly. "No, I'm okay."

She turns the door knob and opens the door slowly. I look at her without meaning to seem so scared, but she steps closer and turns my head to look at my neck.

"Oh, wow," she whispers. "He means business, doesn't he?"

"Don't joke," I demand. "What I am supposed to tell my father? He notices everything!"

She lays her fingers on my lips, halting my exclamation. "Not so loud." She looks around, making sure her mother hasn't heard us. Then she lifts hers eyes to mine. "I mean, I'm going with you. Maybe he'll think I did it."

"Then he'll sit me down and give me a fucking lecture about sex and protection and making sure I'm being responsible," I grumble.

She smiles. "Well, you are being responsible," she teases. "Right?"

"This isn't funny," I hiss. "My mother's going to go nuts thinking I'm doing stuff like this!"

Before the whole last word of my sentence gets out, Jane steps forward and kisses me full on the lips.

I should be pushing her away, but I don't. I'm not sure why.

Her lips feel different from Charlie's.

While his lips are strong and firm, Jane's lips are soft and warm. She lets go before a whole minute passes, gazing up at me with eyes that are pleading with me to shut up. She tastes like chocolate and caffeine, but there's cinnamon and sugar mixed in too. It's nothing like what Charlie tastes like, and I'm momentarily intrigued.

"What did you eat before you came to get me?" I ask absently.

"Jane!" her mother calls up the stairs. "Jasper is here for his brother."

She presses her fingers to my lips again, turning out of the door. "It's okay. Just let him up." Then she looks at me. "Take your shirt off and go to my room."

For a reason unknown to me at this point, I follow her instructions, unbuttoning my shirt and slipping up the hallway and then the stairs to her room in the attic before Jasper can see me.

My brother's overly heavy footsteps pound up the stairs, and Jane comes up into the attic pulling her hair up into a bun on top of her head. She hurries to her closet and pulls out a royal blue dress that almost goes all the way to the floor. Without saying anything to me, she unbuttons her shirt to reveal a white lacy bra beneath it. Then she turns to me.

"Well, come here," she beckons.

Dumbfounded, I move forward, and she wraps her arms around my shoulders. She's warm and small, and I feel like I should be keeping her covered up. Unconsciously, I hold her against me without realizing what she's doing. She leans up and kisses me the way she did in the bathroom, and less than a minute later, I hear Jasper.

"Oh shit," he exclaims.

Jane jumps at the sound of his voice, covering herself and turning away. "Hey!"

I turn to see him there with a sly grin on his face, and I understand instantly. "Jasper, wait outside," I order.

He doesn't acknowledge one way or another, stepping into the hall having just seen me standing in a girl's room without a shirt on kissing her while she's in a bra and skintight running pants.

As soon as he's gone, Jane laughs, and I turn to face her.

"You could've warned me," I gripe.

She shrugs, turning around to pull off her bra. Blood floods my face, and I turn away to keep from seeing her naked.

"Am I making you nervous?" she asks.

"You're not wearing a bra," I say obviously.

She giggles. "You have no problem seeing Charlie naked, but me?"

"It's different," I insist.

She steps behind me then, and her bare chest is pressed up against my back. All I have to compare it to is when I see Charlie, but I know it's not the same. She's small and warm and soft, and she has breasts and other girl parts that Charlie doesn't.

"Does it turn you on?" she whispers, wrapping her hands around my shoulders and kissing my neck.

Charlie's never done this before, and the last time I was even close to another girl, I was so repulsed that I couldn't wait to get away from her. But Jane is different. I know her, and I know what she's like.

Even after everything I did with Charlie that afternoon, I can't hide my shock when my body starts responding to her. I can't say I don't like it when I feel like this, but I'm confused. It's Jane doing this to me. No other girl has ever had this effect on me.

"Carlisle," she whispers.

The little hairs on the back of my neck stand up instantly, and she giggles again, kissing the other side of my neck. Then she lowers her hands to my arms, turning me to face her as she still stands there bra-less.

"It's okay," she says. "Trust me. I've done a lot worse than this."

I stutter helplessly, staring at her chest. "But — "

She stops me, laying her fingers over my lips. "I know you like Charlie." She laughs softly. "I like Charlie. It's just me, Carlisle."

I have to trust that she knows what she's talking about. Other than my little sister, Jane is the only other person who knows about me and Charlie. So if I'm reacting this way to her, and she's saying it's okay, I have to believe her.

Does this mean I like girls too? Or maybe just girls I know who know me — not like Heidi or the girl I kissed when I was fifteen.

Jane steps closer to me slowly, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and stepping up onto her toes to be level-eyed with me. I automatically put my arms around her like I did before, and she smiles.

"It's okay," she says again, leaning forward and kissing me a third time.

I only know what it feels like to have Charlie against me. The sensation of having Jane's bare chest against mine sends a completely different set of chills through my body. Her lips mold to mine in a way Charlie's never have, and I lay my hands over her back near her waist. Her skin is so smooth, and as I rub my hands over her spine, goose bumps erupt all over her back. I can't believe this is happening, but I can't stop.

Her nipples are hard and rub against my skin, heightening the chills cascading over my shoulders and settling into my hips. The moment her tongue slips over her bottom lip and touches mine, my instincts take over, and my feet are moving before I realize it. Her back hits the doorframe of her closet, and then her head follows.

"Ow!"

She releases my lips and lifts her head to the back of her head.

"Fuck," she whispers.

I let go of her and step away. "Sorry."

She rubs her head and lifts smiling eyes to mine. "It's okay. You're a pretty good kisser. Charlie teach you everything he knows?"

I blush and unconsciously lower my eyes to her chest again. Her breasts aren't exactly small, but they're not big like Heidi's. Though Heidi was wearing a shirt the night of the bonfire, I could still tell. I didn't care about it at the time, but now that I'm standing in front of Jane, I can't stop thinking about it.

Jane's skin is nearly translucent and has a slightly pink color everywhere. She smiles at me, taking my hand and then lifting my palm to lay it over her breast. My palm tingles the instant my skin makes contact with her. Jane pulls me closer, and instinctively, I rub the pad of my thumb over her nipple. It's still hard, and she bites her lip gently, laying her own palm over my chest so it's over my heart.

"Are you okay?" she whispers.

I nod, amazed that I'm standing here doing this. She feels so different, and even though I'm still confused, I'm not scared anymore.

Jane leans in until her nose and lips are close to mine. "We really should get dressed," she reminds me.

I keep rubbing her nipple, and without responding vocally, I close the distance between our mouths to kiss her again without her prompting me. Her stomach presses against mine, and a little lower than that, I can feel the span between her legs fitting around my cock that's actually getting harder the longer I stand there.

"You feel kind of good," I breathe against her lips.

A knock on the door to the attic breaks whatever spell that seems to have been cast over us both, and I lean back to look at Jane as her mother's voice pierces the air.

"Jane, honey, it's almost five. We've got to go soon."

She sighs heavily, lifting her hands to the back of my neck.

"I'm confused," I whisper.

"I know," she nods. "And that's okay. We'll talk later, all right?"

I realize the moment we've just had is gone, and I release her more reluctantly than I ever believed I would. I have to breathe deep to calm myself, and I pull my shirt on, buttoning it and tucking it in as she turns to the closet to pull the royal blue dress over her head.

She suddenly looks even more like a girl than she did a minute ago with no shirt on, and when she turns to me with a little container in her hands, she grins.

"You approve?" she asks.

I swallow hard and nod.

"Good. Here," she says, opening the container to reveal a little thing of foundation make-up. Without asking, she gently rubs a small amount over my neck where the hickey is still probably screaming, 'here I am, here I am!'.

She smiles again when she finishes. "There. No more red mark."

I bow my head. "Thanks."

"Now, go on, and my mother and I will be there in a few more minutes."

I don't argue with her, biting my own lip and turning to leave.

"Carlisle."

I look at her, and she laughs softly.

"Try not to forget where you are tonight when you see him, okay?"

I smile and nod, stepping out of her room and facing Jasper instantly.

"Thank God," he exhaled. "I thought for sure you were some sort of fag. Especially with what I heard at school."

I don't acknowledge him as I turn to leave, and he follows me down the stairs.

* * *

><p>I don't want to sit next to Jasper in the car, but Rose wants to sit with our mother. I try my hardest to not even look at him, especially now that he has a smug look on his face. Jane is sitting next to me, and her mother is squeezed in against the door.<p>

This was not a good idea.

I keep thinking about the stupid remark Jasper made before we left Jane's house, and I feel like slapping the shit out of him. Even though our father isn't always the forgiving kind, I've never heard him use that kind of language or speak that way about another person. Jasper has obviously been spending too much time with his friends at school, and it's starting to take its toll.

Jane is holding my arm and squeezing my hand. Flickers of her bare chest assail my brain, and I'm almost instantly hard. I never thought a girl would ever cause this kind of reaction in me. I have no idea what this means. Will Charlie know? Can I ask him about it tonight?

"You need to relax," Jane whispers in my ear.

I have to breathe deep to keep from thinking about kissing her again. But I can do this. I have to.

There's only one steak house in town called Jon B's, and it's a throwback from the fifties. This is where they always have the council meetings. There's a lot of Elvis memorabilia, but it's also got a shitload of sea shells and aquariums. They pride themselves on those. I think it looks tacky.

I hate this place.

Ever since I was twelve, I've had to come, and I'd rather be doing something else. Like lay in the barn with Charlie until I'm so tired I can't get up — well, yeah. But strangely enough, I can't help thinking I'd rather be spending time with Jane too. As we pull up to the parking lot and get out, I scan the parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him and his parents pulling up in a tan pickup truck.

He's wearing a black suit and a black shirt with a royal blue tie. Something tells me he and Jane have decided to coordinate, and I feel like an idiot for not realizing how alike we're all dressed. But then I feel like jumping on top of him and having him right here in the parking lot. He grins in my direction like he knows what I'm thinking, and it isn't until Jane grabs my hand that I remember where we are.

"Keep your cool," she says. "It's just for a few hours."

All I can do is let her take my hand to pull me inside.

Inside, it's warm and bright, and a middle-aged woman at the front takes coats before she walks us all up to the second floor where a large room is reserved for the council. Several people are already standing around waiting. Some of them look in our direction as we arrive, and the tables are all marked with our names where we're supposed to sit.

I dislike this kind of order. I always have to sit between my mother and Jasper, and he kicks me under the table like the idiotic little brother he is. I've never noticed where Charlie sits, but this is the first year I've noticed him, so I look around for his place. Our table is next to the windows that overlook the parking lot, and Mom and Rose sit in their places while we wait for the council president to arrive.

I pace while we all wait, seeing my own place and two extra spots at our table. Somehow, this year I've been seated between Jane and her mother Chelsea. At first, I'm relieved. I've always hated sitting next to Jasper, but then I realize I'm going to be sitting across the room and facing Charlie at his table with his parents and another family.

Great.

Lee and Samantha Barnes, who are about my father's age and have been on the council together most of the time I've been coming, arrive as president and spouse probably twenty minutes after we do, wearing matching colors and smiles. Their twin boys, Austin and Conner, are in my class, and they're both mildly attractive. But neither of them compare to Charlie.

"Good evening, council members," Lee greets.

A few people mutter their own greeting, and he guides his family to their table, which happens to be the one where Charlie will be sitting.

"First order of business," he says. "Let's eat!"

No one argues, and a series of waitresses file into the room to take our orders and bring us our appetizers.

I need to eat. If I don't, I know I'll be light-headed later, and later is when I want to spend time with Charlie. I don't want to ruin it, but if I eat, I know I'll probably puke when I get home after this is all over.

I want alcohol to take the edge off, but my parents frown on that. So I order a Coke, and Jane does too. We share an appetizer, which my mother obviously thinks is cute by the way she smiles when we tell our waitress what we want. Once our appetizer is ordered, we go ahead and order our main courses. Jane orders a variety plate that comes with a local fish, shrimp and crab, and she asks for a side of corn and potatoes. I want something that will help me not throw up later, so I stick to the baked fish and vegetables. When the waitress asks if I want butter, I say no.

I don't know what Charlie orders, but as soon as he does, he looks at me with these eyes that nearly cause me to come unglued. I think Jane sees, and she lays her hand over my thigh.

"You okay?" she whispers.

I look at her and plaster a fake smile on my face. "Yeah."

Of course, my father orders a steak, and my mother gets a salad. Jasper tries to act like he's a big boy and orders the fattest sirloin they have. Rose goes my route and just order fish and vegetables, but she gets cheese on the side with the buttered rolls that come with it. Jane's mother seems to be at a loss, and to be polite, I try to help her. She settles on the lobster tail, smiling at me and then at Jane.

Oh, yeah. I just earned bonus points like Jane is always talking about.

Dinner is loud for the room, but at our table, no one really talks until my mother starts talking to Chelsea. My father is scoping out the room like he usually does to see any new council members. Jane and her mother are guests, and whether they're allowed to be on the council is entirely up to Lee and Samantha. I don't care one way or another.

My fish and mixed vegetables are gone before I realize it, and I'm nibbling on bread from a bowl in the middle of the table when Lee stands up from his chair and moves to the podium at the front of the room.

He always likes to make a speech about goings on in the town, and I'm expecting no less than that. I know nothing exciting ever happens around here anyway, and his points are typical of a man on a council in a small town. The biggest Church in town, which we belong to, is having their annual potluck thing the first week of December, and I'll unfortunately have to go to that too. I'm already dreading it. The school is having its Christmas parade the Friday before, and I'll bet Charlie will have to do some stupid team thing for it.

More time I won't be able to spend with him.

Lee Barnes is what you would expect of a small town man. He's religious, pushy and judgemental. My father can sometimes be pushy, but the last time I can really remember him being pushy or judgemental was when I started swimming at four. I was either going to do it the right way or not at all. So I naturally began swimming most days of the week until I could work out my own schedule because of school.

Then Lee mentions the fact that a gay couple has bought the Marshall place northwest of town. He makes a point of saying he doesn't condemn their behavior, but he wants us all to know what the bible says about it. He also makes sure we know to leave them alone.

Anger and confusion simmer beneath the surface of my skin, causing me to clench my fists. I don't usually care what Lee says. I don't usually pay attention. But of all the stupid, cruel things he's ever said, this tops all of those. Is this how I'll be treated if I ever decide to tell my parents what I am? And what about Charlie?

"Carlisle, honey, are you okay?" my mother asks me.

I look at her, and her forehead is creased with concern.

It takes a lot of self-control to unclench my fists and sit up straight. I have to lie to make her uncrease her forehead. "I'm fine. My, um, stomach hurts."

She looks at my father, but he doesn't say anything.

Lee finishes with his speech, and the meeting is officially over. Now it's just a matter of mingling so everyone sees me and talks to me. Jane attaches herself to me, and I'm thinking she knows why I looked so upset during Lee's speech. We talk to Lee and Samantha — or well, Jane does. Lee winks at me and pats me on the back.

"That's a nice girl you got there," he compliments.

"I know," I say with as much finality as possible.

A few of the other council members, most of whom know my father and therefore think they know me ask me about my swimming, and I mention that Jane also swims at the pool with me. They all think it's cute, but beneath a lot of their smiles, I can see judgement in their eyes. I have to swallow a lot of my remarks about what might be going on in their lives for me to judge them.

Jane and I settle into a corner away from the main crowd to wait on my parents. Jasper and Rose are congregating with their friends from school whose parents are on the council, and I figure we'll be here another hour before finally going home.

I can't wait.

"You two sure look cozy over here."

I look up to see Charlie there with a glass of something in his hand, and I blush without realizing it.

Charlie smiles at me and then looks at Jane. "So what did you think?" he questions. "Now you've seen a small man act like he's the president of the United States with his own religious path and everything."

Jane doesn't smile, looking at me. "It was . . . interesting."

"Well, then you should definitely see what he's like in six months, right around graduation when he lectures all the kids about drunk driving and premarital sex," Charlie quips. "It's a sight, for sure."

She nods. "I'm sure it is."

I bite my tongue in an effort to keep from speaking. I know something undesirable will come out of my mouth if it opens.

"Do you know who it is?" Jane asks. "The people who moved into that house."

Charlie shrugs. "One of them bought the nursery in town, so it makes it kinda hard for the townspeople to avoid them."

"Nursery? Like with kids?"

He smiles. "Uh, no. It's a plant nursery. The only one in town. People on the council aren't going to sign a permit for anybody like that take care of their kids."

"Anybody like what?" I ask, trying not to sound angry and failing. "People like us."

The smile on his face fades, and I feel like I've hit a nerve. I'm not speaking loud enough for anyone to hear me, but right now, I wish I was shouting.

Charlie glances at Jane. "You know that's not what I meant," he argues. "And I'm not talking about this now. See you around, Jane."

Her smile is a little forced. "See you around," she waves.

He turns and leaves. I want to stop him, but I don't.

I'm so stupid. And pissed. And confused.

Jane turns to face me. "What did you do that for?" she whispers.

I feel even sicker now than I did before. "I don't know. I just — It's not fair. And it's not right to hate people because something they have no control over."

She takes my hands in hers and squeezes them gently. "I know. It wasn't like this in Miami. But it was a bigger place, and people weren't as closed-minded. It won't be like this when you leave for college. It's okay."

I'm grateful for her saying that, but now I feel like I'm going to faint.

"I have to go outside."

She doesn't argue, releasing me gently.

The walk outside is quick and quiet, and the cool, salty air fills my lungs the minute I'm on the front porch of the steakhouse that's actually built like a house.

"So are you sayin' we're gonna be like those guys one day."

I turn to see Charlie sitting on a bench near the railing, and instinctively, I move closer. "I don't know. I just know it's wrong to treat people like that — to talk about them like they're not people. And if I stay here, they'll end up talking about me like that."

"And me?"

He rises to meet me, and I have to look away.

"I don't know. Does it bother you?"

He doesn't respond immediately, and I force my eyes up after a minute. He tips his head back, gesturing to a dark swath of space on the other side of the porch that's partially obscured by manicured bushes. I don't understand until he moves off in that direction, and then I follow him.

"Cullen, talk is cheap," he says softly as soon as we're alone and in the dark. "I don't really give a rat's fucking ass if some jerk on a little town council thinks it's wrong that I like to kiss you or touch you or suck on you. He thinks he's doing good putting shit like that in everyone's head, but I know he's really scared. They all are. They all think if any one of us approaches one of them, we'll strike like a goddamn cobra or something. So they talk big about saying they don't condemn it. I know what the bible says, but I also know that if God was unhappy with me, I wouldn't be standing here with you now."

He steps closer to me, suddenly only a couple of inches away the way he was just a few hours earlier. My back hits the wall behind me, and he presses the front of his body to mine. I can feel him through his pants, and I'm sure he can feel me too. The dress pants I'm wearing are thin and don't hold in a lot of heat, but then he slides his hands over my ass.

"You're thinking no one will see us," I breathe against his lips which are now mere centimeters from mine.

He grins and caresses the tip of my nose with his. His hot breath dances over my face, and I shake as cool air slips between us. "I know no one will see us here," he chuckles confidently. "Not unless they hear us, and not unless they come looking. Besides, we got probably half an hour before the grown-ups feel like leaving. It's not a school night, after all."

He extends his tongue then, licking my lips, and I take the initiative, closing the space between us to kiss him as deeply and completely as I can given our location. It takes no motivation for him to grind our hips together, and he lowers his mouth to my neck.

"What are you two doing?"

Jane's voice permeates the air around us, and Charlie leans back to look at her. She comes closer, glancing behind her as she arrives at where we're standing.

"Your mom's looking for you," she says to Charlie. Then she looks at me. "And your dad said to make sure you're ready to go. Rose is tired, and Jasper is spending the night with one of his friends. My mom and I have to leave with you, so I told him I'd find you."

Charlie stands up straight, facing her a little too possessively. "Kinda lucky you came to find us, huh?" he taunts.

She shakes her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't like what you're implying. I was just trying to help."

He smirks and shakes his head. "Yeah, I see how you're helping. And I'm not implying anything when I see it happening right in front of me."

Her face turns defensive. "I'm lying to my mother just the same as you," she argues. "And if Carlisle needs me, he knows I won't judge him and brush him off. It's not my fault it's obvious he needs someone to talk to if he can't talk to you."

Charlie takes a step toward her, and I move just as fast.

"Stop, both of you," I demand. "Don't fucking start this now. Not here." I turn to Charlie. "If I have to go, then I just do. I accepted it would be like this because you're still in school like I am. It's not Jane's fault that my sister wrangled her into this, but she's my friend. Just like you. Don't start complaining now over a situation we created together. You know I like you — a lot more than I thought possible."

He brings his hands to his hips and purses his lips. He knows I'm right, and I have to stop myself from saying this is mostly his fault.

I'm honestly kind of impressed that he's obviously jealous and possessive, but I'm not his. Not yet.

He looks at Jane as she stands behind me. "Sorry," he says about as sincerely as he can. "I don't know why I did that."

A little smile creases the left corner of her mouth. "It's okay. I know why. And that's okay. I get it. I really do. But if you want to keep doing this, you have to be careful. We all do."

The front doors of the restaurant open with a chime of a little bell, and I hear Lee and Samantha as they descend the stairs, talking about how nice it was to see me with Jane. Our time is up at the moment, and I half-turn to Jane.

"We should go," I say. She nods, and I look at Charlie. "I'll be at Jane's later."

He nods, and without much else, I take Jane's hand to pull her back to the front doors.

The ride home is quiet as Rose sits up front with her head on Mom's shoulder and no Jasper. Jane takes up the middle seat with her head on my shoulder and her hands wrapped around my arm. My father drives silently, and without the radio on, the only sound is of the tires hitting the asphalt.

He drops Jane and her mother at their house, and Jane kisses my cheek before she follows her mother inside. I watch a little more certain of where we stand, and I'm already thinking of what to say to my parents when I leave the house.

My room looks the way it did earlier that day when I left to go to Jane's as a cover-up to spend time with Charlie. I change almost as soon as I'm inside, finding a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt before I pull on my trainers and grab my jacket. I look through the books on my shelf, picking out a book I haven't read in a long time, and then I leave my room to hurry downstairs.

"Mom, I'm going to Jane's," I call through the house.

"Not too late," she calls back.

I'm out the door instantly, running from my house to Jane's as the light downstairs switches on along with the attic light.

The first time I was inside Jane's house, I was surprised to realize that her room was all the way in the attic, since it's the farthest from her mother as it can be. It's bigger than my room, but only because it's meant for storage and not occupation. Jane has the same amount of furniture as I do, but it's more spread out, and she has two balconies — one with a ladder that leads to the ground. I used this one earlier to escape with Charlie. I wonder if he'll use it tonight to come to me.

Chelsea lets me in the front door only half a minute after I knock, and even though I know she thinks Jane and I are just friends, I absently think of the kiss I shared with Jane earlier. I climb the stairs slowly, making it to the cracked-open attic door and then moving further up the steps to the open space above me. I can hear Jane moving around, and as a precaution, I move slowly so I don't walk in on her changing or anything.

Soft music is playing, and I poke my head up above the platform to see her pulling a t-shirt over her bare chest as she wears the same pair of leggings she had on earlier.

"I'm coming up," I announced.

She laughs, hanging her dress up and stepping in front of her closet. "I'm dressed."

I make it to the floor, looking around and taking my spot on the couch next to the balcony that faces the beach — the one with the ladder.

She closes her closet, moving to the couch to sit across from me. "Well, that was fun," she huffs.

I know she's being sarcastic, and I smile.

"Are you okay?" she asks, reaching for my hand to hold it in hers.

Confused, I shrug. "I'm fine."

Slowly, she moves forward, crawling to me and then laying against me with her arms around me. I'm a little hesitant to reciprocate, but after a minute, it feels okay. So I put my arms around her as she presses her ear to my chest.

"You were really upset," she says softly. "I was worried."

"I wish I could slap Lee Barnes across the face," I confess even more quietly than she spoke. "I think he needs to be shoved in a jail cell with somebody who could show him how wrong he is."

She laughs. "By doing what?"

"Making him see how normal they can be, no matter who they love."

A minute passes, and she doesn't respond.

The soft music fills the air, and then after another few minutes, she speaks.

"Can I ask you something?"

I laugh. "You just did."

She leans back, pressing her hands to the couch under me. "I'm serious."

"Okay," I shrug.

"Why did you kiss me earlier?"

My smile fades. "What?"

She leans closer, now on her hands and knees as she speaks again. "Why did you kiss me? I mean, I know why I kissed you. If you got any louder, my mother probably would've heard you. And this is supposed to be a secret — this thing with Charlie. But why did you kiss me? It felt like you liked it."

I can't lie to her. "I did like it. I don't know why, and I'm confused. But you're my friend, and I know you."

She lifts her hand to my shoulder, leaning back though she's still kind of knelt in front of me. "I thought you didn't like kissing girls. Like you said about that one girl who kissed you, and you hated it."

"I didn't know her," I insist, absently holding onto her arms. "And she didn't know what she was doing. Charlie knows what he's doing. You know."

"So you wanted to kiss me?" she clarifies.

I nod.

"Do you want to kiss me now?"

I gaze up at her sheepishly. "Kind of."

She sighs heavily and sits over my legs, folding her arms over her chest. The fact that she's naked under her shirt becomes even more obvious, and I sit up to face her.

"It's different with you," I explain. "You feel different from Charlie. He's kind of overwhelming and take-charge. You're warm and soft, and you understand. It's kind of arousing," I confess.

Her cheeks turn red as she laughs, and I lean forward, wrapping my arms around her to hold her against me. She returns my embrace easily and smiles down at me.

"I still like Charlie," I shrug. "But I like you too. Like I said, it's confusing. But I'm figuring it out. You can both help me."

She leans down slowly, caressing the tip of my nose with hers and brushing her lips against mine. A new set of chills shakes my body, and I tilt my head back only a second before she kisses me a little different than she did that afternoon.

Her lips are softer now than they were earlier, and she combs her fingers through my hair while she kisses me. I lower my hands to her waist, and she scoots a little closer until her legs are straddling my hips. I'm not scared or worried. She feels just as good now as she did before.

Her tongue slips just inside my mouth, and even though I was freaked out the last time a girl did this, it's different now. After kissing Charlie all this time, I'm actually ready, responding more enthusiastically than I did the first time a girl kissed me. It surprises Jane, and she leans back to look at me.

"Are you sure about this?" she asks softly lifting her hands to my face.

I hold her a little tighter, and with blood rushing all over my body, I'm hard and panting and kind of needy. "I'm sure I don't want you to stop," I whisper.

She bites her lip and leans closer, kissing me again. After a little bit, she slips her tongue inside my mouth. I follow her, instinctively holding her against me and rubbing my hands over her hips. Her crotch is rubbing against mine lightly, but I want her even closer.

"I want . . ."

Her lips slide down my neck, and she grabs the hem of my shirt to pull it over my head. The soft fabric of her shirt tickles my skin, and I sit up to pull her crotch a little closer to mine.

Is this really happening? Am I really making out with a girl right now? And it's not just any girl. This is Jane. She's a girl, yeah. But she's the girl who came to get me while I was laying naked on a bed with Charlie naked next to me. She's the girl who covered up my hickey without flinching and then kissed me so my brother would catch us and tell all his little friends who will now go off to tell older kids my age.

I, Carlisle Cullen, now have a girlfriend that I've been naked with — well, half naked.

Around here, this is serious.

While grasping onto her hips and then her waist where her leggings are covering her, my fingers feel slivers of skin under her shirt. I don't think about it, grasping the hem of her shirt and pulling it up until she realizes what I'm doing.

I think she's going to stop me, and for a minute, I'm frozen. Is this right? I was sucking on Charlie's cock less than five hours ago. Is it cool that I'm about to strip Jane's shirt off so I can feel her skin against mine?

After a minute of what feels like an eternity, Jane lowers her hands to mine as I grasp tightly onto her shirt, and without me saying anything, she pulls it over her head. Pink, smooth skin fills my eyes as I gaze over her chest. Flickers of our kissing earlier penetrate my mind, but this time it's different.

We're alone up here, and Jasper isn't coming to interrupt us.

I forget about everything else, and it surprises me that I'm able to do this. Nothing else registers as I lean up and kiss Jane again. Only a few seconds pass before I move my hand and lay my palm over her breast near her heart. Her pulse is racing as fast as mine is, and I'm lost in the moment.

Until something taps on the window with a tiny peck.

We both jump, startled, and for half a minute, we don't move.

Another peck hits the window, and she climbs off pulling her shirt back over her head to step to the window. Then she sighs softly.

"It's Charlie," she says, opening the door that leads to the balcony so he'll know it's okay for him to come up.

I pull my own shirt on just seconds before he makes it up to the balcony and steps inside. He's wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and for a second, I think he's here to do the same thing he did earlier. Why wouldn't he be?

He grins when he sees me on the couch, laying his hand on my head and kind of smoothing my hair down. "You pulling your hair out or something, kid?"

The lump in my throat that I have trouble talking over makes his grin fade a little as I realize that my hair is all messed up. I can't look at Jane. "I was worried," I say instead. "And Lee kind of pissed me off."

Charlie huffs and sits on the couch in front of me. "Yeah, he needs to keep his fucking trap shut if you ask me. But I got six months, and I'm out of this place for good."

I laugh nervously. "For good? What do you mean?"

He chuckles. "What do you think I mean, Cullen? Once I go to college, I ain't coming back. I can't. This place as backwards as it is. I'm not gonna live here my whole life living a stupid lie."

I open my mouth to speak, but I don't know what to say. Up until now, he hasn't really talked like this.

"So," he says. "You ready?"

This time I look at Jane. "Why don't we stay here?"

He grins. "Well, we can't exactly do what I was wanting if we have an audience," he quips.

I blush, and for a few seconds, I can't say anything.

"It's cool, Carlisle," Jane says. "I'll see you at the pool in the morning."

Charlie doesn't wait for my response, grabbing my hand and pulling me outside.

"That was rude," I tell him as we're climbing down the ladder to the ground. "If it wasn't for her, I would've popped Lee in the mouth tonight."

Charlie laughs as he steps to the ground, and as soon as I'm down, he turns me to face him. We're hidden from my house here, and since it's dark, no one can see us from the road either.

"Are you starting to like her, Cullen?" he teases. "Because I was pretty sure she was just supposed to be a ploy to keep your parents from knowing what we're doing."

"That doesn't mean you have to dismiss her," I hiss. "And she's my friend too. You can at least be nice to her."

He holds his hands up in surrender, still grinning and stepping closer. He lowers his hands to my hips and leans in to kiss me. Then he whispers. "Did I ever tell you it's kinda cute when you get mad?"

I sigh softly. "Every time I get mad," I whisper back.

He kisses me again, slipping his tongue inside my mouth and lowering his hands to my ass. Lifting my hands to his arms, I grasp onto his sweater and sigh softly while he moves his lips and tongue over my jaw to my neck. My heart is pumping blood all over my body the way it usually does with him. I'm getting harder the longer we stand here, and he grinds our crotches together. He's hard too, and I want to touch him.

Then he whispers in my ear. "You're not wearing any underwear."

Blood rushes to my face, and he kisses me one last time before grabbing my hand to pull me away from the house.

His car is sitting down the street from the drive leading to Jane's house, and I don't ask him anything, sliding into the passenger seat as he sits in the driver's seat. Less than a minute passes, and he turns the car on, shifting gears and pulling away slowly. He reaches for my hand, holding it through the darkness and taking us to our place.

"I'm sorry if I treated Jane bad," Charlie says as he drives. "I can't help it if I'm jealous."

"There's no reason for you to be jealous," I assure him. "If Jane wasn't helping us, it would be different. But I like her. And I know she likes you. She likes you with me. We can trust her."

The countryside is black around us, with only a little green and brown highlighted in front of the car as we drive along the road toward the barn. I'm not nervous the way I was the first time we came here. It was completely different from every other time we've been alone. If what happened this morning is any indication, something I'm not expecting will happen again. Now I'm not worried. I'm ready.

The path leading to the barn is small, and we have to park the car about half a mile before we get there. It's cold and breezy, but my pulse is racing faster the closer we get to our destination. Charlie holds my hand as we walk, silent until just before the barn comes into view.

"You really like her, don't you?" he asks about Jane.

I shrug. "She's nice. And she's cool. She's got me covered."

He smiles. "Really? Have you kissed her yet?"

I blush and bite my lip. "Is that bad?"

He steps closer to me. "Do you like it?" he asks softly.

I shrug. "Kind of."

"Well, now I'm really jealous," he teases, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and encouraging me forward.

The barn isn't exactly lit up like a Christmas tree, but there are string lights along the rails and up the ladder to the loft. The fireplace is blazing, and it's warmer in here than I thought possible. It feels kind of nice.

Charlie lets me go up first, and he follows me, turning me to face him and pulling me closer until we're face to face. I don't hesitate, leaning in and kissing him on the mouth. He lays his hands over my hips and grasps onto my shirt, pulling it above my head so he can kiss my neck and then my shoulder.

I shake with a fresh set of chills, and within a minute, he's walking me back to the bed as it lays unmade from earlier. I push off my shoes and grab the hem of his shirt to pull it off. He laughs and sits me on the bed before kneeling in front of me. More kissing ensues, and I scoot back onto the bed with him in front of me. His bare chest meets mine instantly. I lower my hands to his ass to pull him closer.

He takes control of the situation quickly and moves his mouth down my chest to my stomach. I watch as he hooks his fingers into my jogging pants to pull them down, and my hardening cock meets him without hesitation. Charlie smiles and extends his tongue to lick the underside, and I jump slightly. My jogging pants disappear, and I'm naked as he crawls over me so his face is above mine.

"So, tell me, Cullen," he says with a smirk. "When you kissed Jane, did it make you hard? Did you want to strip her clothes off and have your way with her?"

He wraps his hand around me, and with my heart hammering in my ears, I can only breathe in response. He begins stroking me, and I grasp onto the sheets beneath my hands. After a minute of this, he leans in and whispers again.

"You wanna know what it's like?"

I can only vaguely understand what he's saying, but I know what he means. I remember that he said he had sex with Renee while they were dating. Do I want to know what it feels like now that I've kissed Jane and nearly felt her up?

Charlie slides his lips and tongue down the front of my body then, licking my nipples and rubbing his nose down the center of my abdomen until the heat of his face envelopes the length of my cock. He's still stroking me, and he leans back to lick the very tip. I jump again and shut my eyes as he swirls his tongue around me only a few seconds before his lips close around me. He lowers his mouth over my cock and rubs my balls.

Unconsciously, I lift my legs and plant my feet over the bed, effectively spreading my legs so that his head is bobbing between them. With his fingers, he lowers the tips over my crease, continuing to stroke me and finding my hole. Hot chills assail my body, and I lower my hands to his head to grasp onto his hair. My hips buck up into him, and with each time, his fingers slide closer to his mark until he's stroking my hole open the way he did before.

I have an idea of what this will feel like now, so I'm not nervous. I'm not scared. But I'm confused as he takes his fingers away and leans back so his mouth and tongue are still hovering over my straining cock. I'm panting and moaning, and I don't know why he stopped. And I don't know why he's smiling.

"What's wrong?" I whisper hoarsely.

He doesn't say anything as he reaches around me to a bag I didn't see upon stepping onto the floor. He unzips it with one hand, extracting a little bottle and popping it open. I'm confused until he pours a little over my skin. It's warm and slippery and smells vaguely like powder. He smooths it over my skin, and it gets warmer as he wraps his warm, slippery hand around my cock to keep stroking me.

Slowly, the liquid makes it way down my cock and then my balls to drip over my crease. Charlie helps it along, scooting closer until my tail bone is in the air and my ass is spread in front of his unbuttoned, unzipped jeans. He strokes my crease, and with the warm, slippery liquid, opens up my ass hole. I bite my lip and watch as he leans down and licks the skin under my balls.

"Oh, shit," I moan.

"You like it?" he groans, still stroking my cock and slipping the tip of his finger inside my ass hole.

I nod furiously, reaching for him and grasping onto his legs.

"Fuck, you're so hot like this," he grunts.

He lowers me down to the bed with my ankles still on his shoulders, and he leans down to keep sucking on me as the length of his index finger slides up inside me.

"Oh! Holy fuck."

My cock twitches inside his mouth instantly, and I'm coming before a whole minute passes. "Oh, God! Oh, shit," I whisper.

Charlie raises up slowly, removing his finger and then crawling over me until he's above me. "My God, you're so fucking amazing. Did I ever tell you that, Cullen?"

I smile slightly, still relaxing, and he pulls his jeans off to be naked like I am before he lays at my side.

The crackling fire fills the air as we lay there, and once I catch my breath, I speak again.

"What is it like?" I ask him. "Is it like that?"

He props his head on his hand, gazing at me in a way he hasn't since we met. "Sort of. But it's still different. They move different, you know?"

I nod since I can still remember what Jane felt like. "She's small," I say softly. "And warm. I like her. I like the way she feels. I mean, it's different, yeah, and I like you a lot more. But — "

He leans closer and kisses me before I can finish, moving his lips to my cheek and then my neck. "It sounds like you know from experience," he whispers, licking my ear lobe.

I shake with chills, and he wraps his slippery hand around my limp cock. Just doing this makes me get hard again.

"It was just today. Jasper was coming, and she was trying to make him think we were making out or something."

He keeps stroking and whispering. "Did it work?"

"Yeah," I exhale, moving my hips with his hand again.

He does this a lot. We jack off or he sucks on me, and I orgasm before he starts again. I don't mind. I love it, actually.

"Well, good for her," he breathes against my ear. "You wanna kiss her again?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Does she want to kiss you?"

I swallow gently. "I think so."

He makes me come again while I'm laying there, and I don't care about anything else. The whole world could disappear, and I wouldn't notice. But then I remember what he said earlier at Jane's about leaving and not coming back, and I know that while this is fun, it won't last. And that bothers me for the slightest moment.

I turn away from him after the second time, facing the fireplace as he watches me, and he scoots up behind me until his hips are pressed up against mine and his hard cock is lined up with my slippery ass hole.

"What's wrong?" he asks softly.

I don't know how to say it, but he presses up against me harder, and I can't ignore him. "You said you're leaving in six months and not coming back."

He kisses the back of my shoulder and rubs my hip. "Yeah? So?"

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

I turn my head to look at him. "What are we doing?" I ask more forward than I ever have.

He raises to his hand, above me as I rest on my elbow. "I thought it was pretty obvious," he argues.

I look away to the fireplace. "Yeah, I know we're fooling around," I sigh. "And I know how much I like it. But what does it mean?"

"Why does it have to mean anything?" he demands. "Why do you have to fuck it up now?"

I sit up away from him, aware that we're both naked and embarrassed that I'm pissing him off. "I don't know," I say sheepishly. "I just started thinking about it."

"Well, stop," he shouts. "I wouldn't be doin' any of this shit if I didn't want to. I wouldn't be doin' it if I didn't want you. And I know I'm leavin' in six months, but that doesn't mean this has to mean anything. It's not like we're getting married or something!"

I jump as he yells. "I know. I'm sorry I brought it up. I should go," I say. "I'm not supposed to be out late. I'll walk."

I don't say anything else as I rise and move around to pull my clothes back on. Once my shoes are on, I turn to leave.

"Cullen, wait."

I look at him as he sits there alone. I can see he's sorry for yelling, but I don't know if it's good enough. I've never done something like this with anyone, and I don't like the fact that in six months, it'll be over.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says.

I nod. "Okay."

I leave slowly, descending the ladder to the ground and leaving the barn less than an hour after stepping inside. I'm upset that I caused this, but I can't change it now.

I walk home slowly, feeling the cold but not caring about it at all.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And before we go crazy trying to figure out what Carlisle is doing with Jane, if you're reading the main story, you'll remember that Carlisle has mentioned her a few times. This is truly the back story of what happened to her, and what happened between him and Charlie because of her.<strong>_

_**The next half will be posted later next week when I've got it edited. I hope you'll tell me what you think of this new development. As a time reference for this little piece, cell phones did begin showing up in a smaller portable form in the early nineties, but they were really expensive, and these boys living in a little town on the South Carolina coast. It'll probably be another four or five years before either of them have anything like that, and it actually plays into what went wrong with them.**_

_**I'm already giving too much away, especially since we all know it didn't work out.**_

_**So there it is. Ooh, and I have a poll of my profile for you to pick which story I should post next! Go vote!**_

_**See ya next time!  
><strong>_


	5. Holiday Love 2

_**Okay, so here's the second half of the last chapter. It picks up a couple of weeks after the last half, and again, as was with the last part, things are getting even more complicated with Jane in the picture. So far, I've had varying opinions about her, but this was what I had in mind as soon as I thought these up, and I think it feeds into Carlisle's character in the main story.**_

_**Warnings apply here. There's violence and bad language, attempted assault and sex. Not 18? Don't say I didn't warn you.**_

_**I don't own Twilight, but I do like making some of SM's characters kiss and . . . other stuff.**_

_**I will say this up here. Even if at one point you want to throw stuff at the computer - or me - see me at the bottom.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Holiday Love, II<strong>_

Thanksgiving sucks, especially because I have to tolerate Jasper being a dick about seeing me and Jane kissing in her room. But something amazing happens.

I'd thought my mother wouldn't be able to handle anything I'm going through — with Jane or Charlie, but she surprises me, encouraging me to keep seeing Jane in the hopes that I'll have at least one friend to talk to other than Rosalie. She also says something that suggests she knows about me and Charlie, but it's nothing overt.

Maybe I can talk to her after all.

Going back to school sucks even more than Thanksgiving. I don't talk to Charlie the whole time, and he doesn't really make any moves to talk to me.

It's awkward, and I don't know how to fix it. I know this is all my fault, but he started it. All I want is to be with him, and I don't care who knows about us. But he's got so much here — so much more than me. I could leave and never come back, and no one would care. He talks like nothing he does with me matters, and I don't like how that makes me feel.

Jane and I keep going to the pool house every other day. She's the only one who really understands why I'm feeling like this, and she tries several times to help me.

"I know Charlie wouldn't do anything to make you feel like this if he wasn't feeling it too," she says a couple of weeks after the debacle that was the council dinner.

Christmas is two weeks away, and my father's already making plans for us to go to Washington, DC to spend time with some of his friends. I want to ask if Charlie can come, but my father will ask why. I can't tell him the truth — not yet.

"If he was feeling what I'm feeling," I gripe, "he wouldn't be making me feel like a dick — literally."

We're gliding back and forth in the deep end of the pool while I catch my breath from trying to swim a few more laps with her. The air inside the pool house is warm, but the water is slightly cooler. Jane has her long hair up in a cap, and I'm wearing goggles while I backstroke through the water.

"Well, you're both guys," she giggles. "I think that's gonna come with the territory."

I purse my lips and smirk at her, waiting for her to come closer and then pulling her to me until her chest in on top of mine. Since I haven't been hanging around Charlie, Jane and I have gotten closer. We kiss a lot, and when her mother has to go into town for groceries and shit, we make out in the shower in our underwear.

Never in all the years since I realized I was attracted to boys did I ever imagine being so close to a girl like Jane — so close that she does the same things to me that Charlie does. I don't know how I feel about Jane, but I know she and Charlie are starting to rank high on my list of favorite people — right up there next to Rosalie and my mother.

"You don't think I'm a dick, do you?" I tease, rubbing my hands along her back and leaning in closer to kiss her.

We float through the water until my feet start to graze the floor of the pool, and Jane moves behind me to wrap her arms around my chest. Then she whispers in my ear.

"Of course not."

In a move that's becoming frequently comfortable between me and Jane, I turn to her quickly and start gliding her through the water until her back meets the edge of the pool. She smiles and takes my goggles off, draping her arms over my shoulders as I lean in to kiss her. I step down on my feet, and she wraps her legs around my waist.

I'm starting to really like the way she makes me feel, especially when I get hard every time her body rubs against mine. It's no longer confusing, and I don't care if no one would understand how I'm able to kiss and touch and rub Jane, and then turn around and have wet dreams about Charlie touching me and sucking on me and maybe even fingering me.

Jane rubs her hands down my back to my waist where my swim trunks are plastered to my legs. With her own legs anchoring her to me, she starts to push my shorts down. I don't hesitate, wiggling out of them until I'm naked.

Is this really happening? We're about to be naked in the pool together, aren't we?

She lets go of me for only a moment, pulling her arms from her swimsuit so that it's pushed down to her waist. I lower my mouth down her neck, rubbing her back and then her ass so her body is flush against mine. She's so warm and small and perfect.

The thought leaves my head a second before I lean back to look at her. I know it's true, but what does it mean?

Do I love her? Does she love me?

Jane lifts her hands to my face, caressing my skin, and I grasp onto her swimsuit to pull it further down her body. She relaxes her legs, allowing me to pull the swimsuit away, and instantly, we're both naked. Returning her legs to my waist, she moves her hand through the water and wraps her hand around my hard cock. If it surprises her that I'm aroused, she doesn't say anything.

I'm about to lower my fingers to the apex of her legs when a booming voice stops us both.

"Well, look what we have here," Felix taunts from the other side of the pool.

He's not alone. Another football player is with him. I think his name's Demetri.

Oh, holy fuck.

I move Jane behind me and back away from the side of the pool. It's big enough that we can hover in the middle without Felix and Demetri being able to reach us — even with the poles they have. I spot my shorts and Jane's swimsuit only a minute before they're gone, tossed out of the pool.

"We don't want any trouble," I shout. "Just leave us alone."

Felix laughs and glances at Demetri. "Okay," he says, but he doesn't move from the edge of the pool. He actually squats down to be a little closer. "Did you really think I was gonna forget you and that bitch? You probably thought I was so drunk I wouldn't remember you gettin' in my way so I could have my way with her. Well, imagine my surprise when I hear a little rumor around school that you've been spending an awful lot of time with Charlie Swan. Can't say I wasn't surprised when that freak didn't take a new girlfriend after he dumped Renee, but then your little brother starts going around saying you're making out with this little piece of ass. I just had to see for myself."

I hold Jane closer so she's tucked behind me. "Please. I don't know what you're talking about with Swan. I've been seeing Jane ever since she moved here. Just leave. I won't mess with you again, Felix. I swear."

Demetri moves away slowly, around to the other side of the pool, and I can't keep my eyes on them at the same time anymore.

"Oh, I wouldn't want you to mess with me, you fucking fag," he sneers. "But I wouldn't mind having a shot with her."

The water splashes behind us, and I turn to see Demetri moving through the water toward us. We're closer to the shallow end of the pool — and the ladder — but getting through the water is like running through quicksand. It's possible, but it's difficult. I can't move for probably a minute, but then Felix jumps in, and my instincts kick in. I shove Jane toward the shallow end of the pool, and she tries to pull me with her, but before she can grab me, Demetri does and pulls me from her.

"Just go," I yell. "Call the police."

She moves faster than me, getting to the ladder and climbing out mere seconds before Felix can catch her. Demetri has his arm around my neck and his hand in my hair. Pain is prickling along my scalp, and I'm having trouble breathing. I can't do anything to stop him, but I can see Felix climb out of the pool and run for Jane. He catches her and slams her to the concrete, and she screams.

"Stop!" I yell. "Don't hurt her!"

Of course he doesn't listen to me, pinning her down and sprawling her out so that her legs are apart. He leans down, and his face is in hers before she raises her head and bites his cheek. Bright red blood blossoms on his face, and he yells before slapping her hard enough to make her mouth bleed.

I keep struggling against Demetri, still unable to really breathe but feeling his feet close to mine. An idea strikes me, and as hard as I can, I raise my own foot to slam it down into his. He grunts and lets go of me. I turn around and rear my arm back, punching him in the mouth and then hurrying through the water toward the side of the pool.

Felix has turned her to her stomach. He's still holding her down, and she's still sprawled out. I'm less than a few feet away when Demetri grabs me again and shoves my head under the water. The chlorine in the pool stings my eyes, and I struggle against his hand as he yanks me around so I can see that Felix has unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. He's stroking his cock, and Jane is crying. I can't stop him, and she's staring at me, pleading with me to help her.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Charlie's voice startles me, and I turn my head to see him striding into the room with a very determined look on his face.

Felix barely pauses, grinning as he lowers himself onto Jane. "Well, look who it is," he taunts. "I should've known you would show up to save your boyfriend."

Charlie doesn't look at me, stalking up to Felix and grabbing him by the collar to throw him away from Jane. "That's right," Charlie says through clenched teeth. "And you just happened to be walkin' by while he was in here."

Without pausing or allowing Felix to get up, Charlie punches him hard, knocking him down and then punching him again. Felix is laid out on the concrete with his dick hanging out of his jeans.

Then Charlie stands up straight and turns to face me. He doesn't say anything to me, moving to Jane's side to help her up. She grabs a towel and wraps it around herself. Charlie moves closer to the edge of the pool, glaring at Demetri as he still holds me by the neck and the hair.

"Let him go," Charlie orders.

"Or what?" Demetri taunts. "You know I can tell the whole school about this."

"Do it, and I'll tell them all about you and him," Charlie warns, pointing to Felix's unconscious form. "And don't think I don't know about it. I think everybody knows about it. They just won't say anything. So how about you let him go and leave us alone, and I'll let the two of you walk away without your parents knowing your little secret. That way everybody wins."

Demetri holds me tighter and grips my scalp harder, and I hold his hands trying to make him let go. Then he releases me, pushing me away.

I glance back at him, wanting to hit him again but deciding against it so I can make sure Jane is okay. Charlie reaches for me as I make it to the edge of the pool, and I let him pull me out of the water. We face each other for maybe half a minute, and there's something in his eyes that looks like an apology. I bow my head and hurry to where Jane is sitting.

I sit next to her and take her in my arms to comfort her. She holds onto me tighter than anyone ever has in my life, crying against my shoulder.

"It's okay," I whisper. "You're okay."

"You two got anymore clothes around here?" Charlie asks.

I look up at him and nod.

"Then we should probably go," he nods to Demetri and Felix.

I don't argue, helping Jane to her feet and then walking toward the changing rooms with her in my arms.

I don't want to let her out of my sight, so while I take her to the men's changing room, Charlie grabs her stuff from the ladies' room. We use separate stalls, and he waits for us to make sure Felix and Demetri don't come back.

"How'd you two get here?" he asks.

"We walked," I reply pulling my shirt above my head.

"It's barely fifty degrees outside. What the hell, Cullen?"

I sigh and step out of my stall with my bag over my shoulder. "Well, I don't have a car, so we didn't see the harm."

Sitting over the bench, I pull my socks on and then my shoes. He sits next to me, and there's an awkward silence between us before Jane yells from her stall.

"Will the two of you just make up already! I'm getting sick of being in the middle."

I glance back, confused, and Charlie chews on his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry, Cullen," he says softly. "About yelling at you and soundin' like I don't care about you." He looks at me and scoots a little closer. "And I _do_ care about you. You make me feel things that scare the shit out of me, but I don't want to push you away. And I'm — I'm sorry."

After another glance in Jane's direction, I put my bag on the floor to move closer to Charlie. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. It's just that I feel things for you too, and they scare me just as much. I don't want it to go away because of something we might not have control over, and if you leave, then I — "

His fingers stop me, pressing to my lips, and he leans closer to kiss me. "Let's not talk about that, okay? It's a long ways off, and all I want right now is right here with me. Okay?"

I sigh against his lips, and he kisses me again, lifting his hands to my face.

"You guys are so cute together," Jane says, now standing outside her stall and staring at us.

I grin and look at Charlie. He nods, and I stand up to go to her.

"Are you okay?" I plead, taking her in my arms again.

She holds me tight like she did just a little while ago. "I'm okay. I was scared, but thanks to Charlie, I'm okay."

I wrap my hand around her head. "Yeah, he kind of saved our asses today."

"Kind of?" he balks even though he chuckles. "Cullen, I totally saved your ass today. And I saved your girlfriend's ass too, not that I minded doing it. Any time I can hand Demetri and Felix their dicks on a silver platter, I just can't help myself."

I laugh and turn to face him with Jane by my side.

Charlie steps closer to us, lifting his hands to his waist. With as meaningful a look in my direction as he can, he turns his attention to Jane. "I think we all need to have a talk."

Neither of us says anything to argue, and once Jane and I have everything together, Charlie leads the way out of the changing room so we can leave the pool house.

Charlie's car is idling in the parking lot, and while he climbs into the driver's side, I help Jane into the passenger seat to sit in my lap. Charlie kind of grins at us, but he doesn't say anything, putting the car in gear to leave the lot. I spot Felix's jeep sitting there, but I don't give it much thought, holding Jane closer and swearing the next time I see him that I'll probably deck him as hard as I possibly can.

"Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to keep savin' your ass," Charlie says as he drives west of town and then onto the highway.

I already know where he's going, and it seems like Jane does too. "It's not like I thought he was going to try something like this," I mutter. "He's a fucking douche. He needs to keep his hands off the people I care about."

"He'll be lucky if I don't beat him into the last part of next week. And the next time I see him, I'm telling him you two are off limits. It's not good if I can't leave you alone for nothing."

I sigh softly, absently kissing Jane's neck and inhaling her smell. After being in a chlorine pool, she should smell mostly of chemicals, but she actually smells good — like chamomile and lavender.

The road turns into a path as he turns off the highway, and then the path leads us to our place. The old barn will look like a mirage compared to the pool house, and I'm more glad to be here than I thought I would be after what happened the last time. Charlie parks and gets out, and I help Jane, pulling her with me to follow Charlie to the barn further down the path.

He flips on the lights and moves to the furnace. I guide Jane to the ladder and we both climb up while Charlie starts a fire. I kind of know what he wants to talk about, but I'm not worried. I can see on his face that he knows I care about Jane as much as I care about him, and I hope he can understand. I need both of them, and if this works out, then we'll all benefit from it. I don't know how I know that, but I just do.

Charlie brings a few blocks of wood up with him to the loft, kneeling in front of the fireplace there to start another fire. He glances at us as we sit on the bed, grinning and then getting to work so we're not sitting in the drafty cold air of the barn.

"I think the next time that asshole touches me," Jane says, "I'm gonna bite off his dick. And then I'm gonna ram a broom handle up his ass."

Charlie chuckles as he rises from the fireplace and kneels at the side of the bed beside me. "She sure is a firecracker, ain't she?"

I laugh. "She can be."

He leans in and kisses me and then sits on the bed next to Jane. "I think a lot of this is my fault," he says softly. "If I hadn't asked Cullen to go to that stupid bonfire, I know Felix wouldn't have seen you, and my boy over here wouldn't have felt the need to defend you. But then I think he would have even if it hadn't been at the bonfire. And now I'm glad you told me to come to the pool. I probably would've killed Felix and Demetri if they messed with either of you."

Jane kind of grins. "Really?"

He glances at me. "Well, yeah. I'm not a prick. And if it weren't for you, something really awful might've happened this morning. I mean, if you hadn't called me." He leans in and kisses her cheek. "So thank you."

She laughs and lifts her hand to his face. Without looking at me, she moves her lips to his and kisses him once. "You're welcome," she says leaning back.

Charlie looks at me and wags his thick eyebrows. I laugh and pull my shoes and socks off. Jane pulls off her jacket, revealing her thin, long-sleeved shirt and her hard nipples beneath it. After a minute, she rises to her knees and moves closer to me to sit over my lap. I do nothing to stop her, holding onto her ass and craning my neck to kiss her. She wraps her arms around me, threading her fingers through my hair.

"Yeah, you two are definitely gettin' cozy," Charlie says, laying back over the bed and folding his arm beneath his head.

I glance at him, and Jane moves her lips to my neck. Her warm body causes a reaction in my cock, and I can't hide it.

"Are you jealous?" Jane asks while she pulls my jacket off along with my shirt.

"Of a girl having her way with my boyfriend? Maybe. Or maybe I just feel like I should get some action too — since I saved your ass and all."

She smiles at me and then crawls closer to him, pushing his jacket off and then unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a plain white t-shirt. Charlie leans in to kiss her a little more deeply than she just kissed him, pulling her running pants from her waist. His shirt disappears, and his broad, muscled chest causes such a reaction in my cock that I have to reach into my pants and stroke it myself.

Jane's bare ass comes out of her running pants, and she shifts her legs around so that the lower half of her body is naked. Charlie runs his hands down her legs and then under her shirt to rub her breasts. She moans, and I stroke my cock a little faster. I lay back over the bed to watch them, and my own jogging pants ease down my legs until they're around my ankles. I'm naked as I lay there stroking myself while Charlie kisses Jane with his tongue and lowers his fingers to the dark hair between her legs.

I want to touch her too, but I can't move. He looks at me and strokes her. She moans softly and grasps onto the hair at the back of his head.

"Oh! Yes!"

"You wanna know what it feels like?" Charlie asks, his voice low and gravelly.

The only thing I can do is nod.

For several minutes though, none of us move except in our own individual spots. I keep stroking myself, though not as fast or hard as I want, and he keeps stroking Jane. From where I am, I can see her skin glistening around his fingers. I watch as he slides a finger up inside her, and she moans louder, moving with his coaxing. She looks a lot like I do when he's touching me, and I wonder how many other girls he's touched like that. Other than Renee.

It doesn't take much more of his stroking, and she cries out with a strained voice.

Charlie doesn't give her chance to relax, slipping out from under her and guiding her to where I'm laying with my cock in my hand. He smiles at her, and she straddles my body without saying a word.

We were kind of close to this at the pool house, and I can't deny that I want to do it. I remember everything I felt when I touched her, and she looks like she's wanted this a long time too. Charlie pulls off his jeans so he's naked, and his cock is shimmering in the firelight. I can tell he's warm all over like I am, and he leans down to kiss me, tongue and all before he scoots closer and takes my hand in his.

None of us say anything as he guides my fingers to the apex of Jane's legs. He whispers in my ear as the tips of my fingers touch her warm, slick skin.

"This is called her pussy," he says and licks the very edge of my earlobe.

I shiver easily, taking over myself and stroking Jane without him. Her slick skin feels so different from Charlie's, and I sit up in front of her to kiss her. She wraps an arm around my shoulders, lowering her other hand to my cock to stroke it. I pull her closer so her covered chest is flush against mine. I want to feel her skin against mine, so I pull her shirt off.

I keep stroking Jane's pussy, and she rocks her hips with my fingers until I feel a slippery, deep hole.

Charlie's fingers join mine, and he whispers in my ear again as he moves my fingers over the bundle of skin at the top of her pussy. "I like to call this a little screamer button, because every time you touch it," he says, grazing it with my fingertip and waiting for Jane to moan again, "they kinda make this pretty sound. Doesn't she sound pretty?"

I kiss Jane deeper and slide my finger up into her. "Yeah," I whisper.

The muscles inside her squeeze my finger, and she cries out again. She relaxes a little and lays her head over my shoulder. Then she laughs softly.

"Not bad for feeling up a girl the first time," she compliments.

I wrap my hand around her head and stroke her hair. "You feel so amazing," I whisper to her.

Her fingers continue to graze along the hard length of my cock, and I shiver a little more, squeezing my eyes shut.

"You wanna do more?" Charlie whispers in my ear.

I glance at him, biting my lip as Jane wraps her hand around my cock. "There's more?"

He smiles and kisses me. "Oh, hells yeah. You think you're ready?"

"What does it feel like?"

He looks at Jane, and she raises to her knees while remaining in front of me. She just moves half an inch, but instantly, I can feel her warmth all around me. Charlie kisses my shoulder, and Jane slowly lowers herself until I know what she's about to do. I couldn't have imagined something like this happening this morning when I woke up and took Jane to the pool house.

The very outer edge of her pussy touches the tip of my cock, and I suck in a deep breath. These chills are completely different. I can feel it in my toes and my fingertips and even my scalp. It's not the fireplace making me warm. It's Jane in all her warm, naked perfection. She kisses me again, rocking her hips and allowing more of her wetness to encompass my throbbing head.

I want to be inside her. I never thought I'd want something like this, but I can't deny it.

"You're bigger than Alec was," Jane whispers as the head of my cock finds her opening. There's nothing in the way to stop us as she lowers herself a little more and then gasps softly. "Oh, you're definitely bigger."

More warmth envelops me, and I unconsciously rock my own hips against her body to move further inside her. There are no words to describe what this feels like, and I wrap my arm around her waist to hold her closer. It takes a few more movements on her part and rocking on my part, but then I'm all the way inside her.

She's so slick and hot and panting, and I can't think of anything but what's right in front of me. The muscles inside her are so tight, and I'm worried about hurting her. She lowers her hands to my hips, urging me to keep going, and I lean up to kiss her again while we move together.

Sweat is dripping down her back, and I'm stroking her hair when I see Charlie's hand rub her ass. Slowly, his fingers graze over her crease, and she moans against my lips. She leans back a little, her nose and lips brushing against mine as she lifts her hands to my face and caresses my cheeks. Then I can feel Charlie's fingers close to where I'm moving inside Jane, and her eyes close when she bites her lip.

"You two are seriously messing with my head," she moans, moving faster and combing her fingers through my hair.

Chills slip up and down my back, and Charlie keeps touching her crease until I can feel the muscles inside Jane squeezing my cock the way they squeezed my finger.

Jane wraps her hands around my shoulders, extending her tongue and licking my lips. I follow her and meet her tongue with mine just before we kiss again, and she starts squeezing me harder — a lot harder than Charlie's ever been able to. I can feel the tightening in my abdomen and my cock, and I know I'm going to come. I've never done this before — had sex with a girl. It feels amazing, and I can't keep from thinking that Charlie's felt this too.

"I'm coming," I whisper against her lips.

She grins. "I am too," she moans, arching her back sharper and pressing her stomach against mine.

I unconsciously rub her hips and then her ass, and I'm so close. But even more than that, I want Charlie close to me. I can see him kissing Jane's neck and her shoulder, and just the sight of him there makes me want to come even more.

"Oh, shit," I hiss as my cock twitches inside Jane until I know I'm about to explode.

She squeezes me against her, the muscles inside her almost milking me until I can't give anymore. "Oh, Carlisle," she moans.

All my other muscles tighten up, and I can't move for several minutes after everything stops. I rub my hands up her back and then her shoulders, lifting my hands to her face and leaning in to kiss her. The smile on my face can't be denied, and she touches my lips while still kind of moving around me.

"You feel so good," I breathe against her lips.

She nods. "You do too."

Charlie lays his hand over the back of my head. "Don't forget about me," he whispers against my ear.

I lift my hand to his face. "Not ever," I swear.

Jane moves a little, rising to her knees slowly until I slide out of her, and I'm breathless as she lays away from me. Charlie moves in, sitting beside me and taking my hand in his to wrap it around his hard, pulsing cock. I lean up to kiss him, stroking him and then getting up on my knees to push him back. He lays down with a smile on his face, and I keep kissing him on the lips and stroking his cock.

"Now _this_ is messing with my head," Charlie whispers around my lips.

I lean back and smile, beginning my journey as I kiss his neck and then his shoulder. I move my lips to his collar bone and then his chest, licking his nipples and kind of tugging on them before I slide my mouth down the middle of his body to his belly button.

"Oh, come on, Cullen," he groans. "Don't tease me. You know what I want."

"Here," Jane says, handing me the same bottle Charlie used on me the last time we were here. "Use this. He'll like it."

I look at her curiously, silently wondering how she knows that. But then I remember Alec, and I can't help but wonder how often they had sex like she and I just did. I also wonder how she knew it was here. She and Charlie haven't exactly been seeing eye-to-eye where I'm concerned, but maybe in the last couple of weeks since the council dinner, she's been trying to make him see the same things I've been seeing.

"Don't look at me like that," she giggles. "A girl's got needs, you know?"

"Have you and he — "

She shakes her head. "No. Just you. But I know what it is. Alec used it sometimes. Go on."

I don't say anything else, flipping open the cap and squeezing a small amount onto Charlie's skin. I haven't done this to him yet. I didn't do it that day we spent here before our fight, and I'm curious. Has he done this with other guys before? Have they ever touched him like this? Will he want me to?

"Come on," Charlie groans. "Don't hold out on me."

With as much certainty as I have, I smooth the liquid on his skin over his cock, stroking a little faster to spread more liquid over his balls and then his crease. He shifts around, folding his arm under his head and lifting his legs so they're spread apart in front of me. I lower my fingers over his ass, leaning over to lick the tip of his cock while beginning to stroke his crease.

"Oh, yeah. That's it," he hisses.

His ass spreads, and I feel for his hole with the liquid coating my fingers. I close my lips around his pulsing head, swirling my tongue around him and then taking him all the way in my mouth while my fingers are still stroking him open. He only did this to me a couple of times, but it feels like he's done this before. It's like he's ready for me to finger his ass.

I don't pause, using more liquid to keep spreading his ass, and his throbbing head hits the back of my throat just as the tip of my finger slips inside him. He grabs the back of my head.

"Fuck, man, you're too good at this."

I suck on him and finger his ass for more time than it's possible for me to keep up with, opening my eyes after a little while and seeing Jane as she watches me. She's not touching herself or even panting. She's just watching me.

Charlie's cock twitches in my mouth, and he spreads his legs further apart than they already are so that the length of my finger slides all the way inside him. He bucks his hips, and the tip of my nose touches his lower abdomen a second before he comes inside my mouth. I hold onto him so he can't push me away, swallowing and squeezing him until he's finished. I lean back after he lets go of my head, and I set my chin over his stomach.

"You're amazing," he says with a wide grin.

"So are you," I compliment with a soft chuckle.

I rise up after a few more minutes and crawl over him until my face is above his. I lean down to kiss him and whisper as I lean back. "Thank you."

He nods, and then I crawl away from him to lay down in front of Jane. I pull her closer to me, suddenly exhausted as I wrap my arms around her until her chest is against mine and her hips are cradling mine.

"Are you okay?" I whisper.

She holds me closer to her, stroking my hair and laying her forehead against mine. "I'm okay. What about you?"

I laugh softly, rubbing the tip of her nose with mine. "Are you kidding? I never thought I'd lose my virginity like this. How long has it been since you . . . ?" I kiss her gently.

She caresses my lips with her finger. "It was about a month before," she says without having to say anything else.

"Well, now you have me."

Charlie crawls up behind her and lays down with his chest against her back. "Hey, don't forget about me, Ms. Bennett."

She laughs and lifts her hand to the back of his head. "Like I said, messing with my head."

He kisses the side of her neck and takes her hand in his to slide his fingers between hers. "You are definitely not like any other girl I've ever known," he whispers to her.

We all scoot closer together to keep our warmth with the fireplace, and since it's Saturday, I know we can stay here a long time before anyone misses us. I realize I wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now, and I relax with Jane in my arms, kissing her again and closing my eyes.

The next time I open my eyes, the first thing I notice is that Charlie's gone. Second, I see Jane in front of me still asleep. I absently kiss her head and then sit up to look around.

More logs of wood are burning in the fireplace, and it's a little warmer than it was when I apparently went to sleep though I'm not sure how that's possible. Memories from just a few hours ago make themselves known, and I unconsciously smile.

A piece of paper hanging by a string catches my eye, and I stand up to reach it without thinking about being naked.

There's handwriting on the paper, and I immediately recognize that it's Charlie's.

_Gone to get lunch. Be back soon. - CS_

I smile wider, and almost on cue, my stomach growls. I don't know what time it is, but I'm suddenly hungry.

"You have a really nice ass. Did I forget to mention that?"

I laugh and turn to see Jane laying there watching me. I remember that we didn't have a blanket before, and her naked body is glowing in the ocher light of the fireplace. Her skin hasn't looked like this since I've known her.

She's so beautiful.

I'm surprised as soon as the thought leaves my head, but it doesn't scare me anymore. I like the way it sounds.

I kneel onto the bed at her feet and crawl to her as she turns to her back. She lays her hands on my face and lifts her legs so her feet are planted on the bed. She smiles, and I lay down with my chest over hers.

"It's just us," she says.

I lean closer and kiss her. "Yes it is."

She feels good in my arms, and she's still kind of wet. It feels a little weird at first, but she's warm and then she laughs.

I shuffle my hips, rubbing against her and watching her bite her lip. "Are you laughing at me?"

She giggles and arcs her back a little. Our skin rubs together harder, and then I'm a little harder.

"I'm not laughing at you," she proclaims. I rub against her, making my cock harder, and she laughs louder. "I'm not laughing at you!"

I sigh softly and rub the pads of my thumbs over her forehead. "You're beautiful," I whisper.

She leans up and kisses me. "I was about to say the same thing about you," she whispers back.

Slowly, she wraps her legs around me, and we're closer than we were before. I kiss her the way I remember from earlier, re-situating my hips and rubbing against her harder. I'm not sure I can do this without Charlie here, but I want to try.

Before we can get very far, I lean back to be on my hands and knees.

Her smile fades, and she caresses my jaw. "Is something wrong?"

"I want to try something."

A curious expression crosses her face. "Okay," she says a little uncertainly.

With my hands above her head, I lean down to kiss her. The moment her fingers caress the sides of my chest, chills slide up and down my skin from my hips all the way to my fingertips, and I'm stuck where I am for a minute. I slowly move my lips and my tongue over her chin and then her neck. Her fingers glide down the center of my body, over the hair lining my stomach and then just above my cock. I'm already ten times harder than I was a few minutes ago, and as I lick around her nipples, she wraps her hand around me.

Her skin is so smooth. I had no idea skin could feel like this, and I'm compelled to rub my thumbs over her breasts. She arcs her back the way she did before, stroking me until I'm not only hard but erect. My blood is pumping faster now, and my heart is pounding in my ears. As I lay a line of kisses down the middle of her body, she threads her fingers through my hair, grasping tighter by the second.

She smells amazing. The fact that we had sex earlier is barely noticeable. I don't know if that's her or if all people after sex smell like this, but I like it. She's breathing deeper the further down I go, and I nip at her rib cage with my teeth. This causes her to grip my hair a little harder. Prickles of what I can only describe as pain flash through the back of my scalp, but I don't have the heart to make her stop. It's been ten months since she had anyone touch her like this. I guess she's bound to react a little more strongly now.

Her belly button fluctuates as my tongue passes over it, and she laughs again. I lift my head to see her biting her lip again. The look in her eyes now is the same as it was before, and when she lays hers legs down with her knees open, I lean back to face her pussy.

Charlie called it that before. I absently wonder how much of it he's actually had.

"Carlisle," she moans.

I forget what to call the glistening, pink flesh beneath my fingertips as I begin stroking her differently from before. She moves her hips around, and I spread the moisture making her wet around her aroused flesh. Within the folds of her skin, I feel her opening, and she moans again as I slip my finger just inside her.

"Oh. Carlisle."

I stroke her the way I saw Charlie do before I was inside her, and she arcs her back again, allowing the bundle of skin at the top of her pussy to move differently than I remember. The tip of my finger grazes over it, and she moans again, speaking softly.

"That's my clitoris, just so we're clear," she informs me. "We don't need you calling it anything Charlie says."

Something compels me to lean forward, and I flick my tongue around her clitoris. She cries out, but I know she hasn't come yet. I only hover there a few more seconds, moving my mouth back up her body until my face is above hers. We kiss, and she lowers her hand down the front of my body again to wrap her fingers around my cock. I'm still hard, if not harder than I was before descending her body, and she begins stroking me a little faster than she did a few minutes earlier.

I move with her hand, steadily lowering my body onto hers until she's using the head of my cock to stroke herself. It feels a little different from what we did before, but it's no less arousing. This isn't something I would be able to do with just any girl. I could only do these things with Jane.

She lowers my cock to her opening, and I lean forward, sliding inside her a little with each thrust. I lay my arms above her head, kissing her and feeling her lower her hands to my hips to urge me on more. Though it's not necessary anymore, I like that she wants me to keep going. I smile as we kiss, thrusting faster and moving my hand to her hip to hold her closer to me. She angles her hips up, and in seconds, I'm moving deeper inside her than I already am.

Her lips break away from mine, and I can feel her fingers digging into my ass. We're both moving together now. It's not like it was before where it was mostly her. I know I'm doing a lot of it, but I can also feel her body finding a rhythm we didn't have the first time.

The muscles inside her clench down on me, and I know she's close. I want to come with her, and I speed up, allowing my own body to follow hers. I can't believe I'm really doing this, and I don't understand how it's possible other than the fact that it's Jane. She's done something to me that feels amazing, and it isn't until I feel my belly and then my balls tighten that I know I don't ever want to stop doing this.

"Oh, God!"

Her shrill voice in my ear has never sounded so beautiful, and I spill inside her a second time before realizing that I just had sex with her a second time without using anything.

My brain refuses to process this terrifying thought as I lay there trying to catch my breath, and she lifts her hands to my face to make me look at her. Her eyes are filled with so much happiness and love. I can't ruin that.

So I don't.

Instead I do something I hope will help.

"I love you," I whisper.

She smiles and bites her lip, caressing my jaw and leaning closer to kiss me. "I love you, Carlisle," she whispers back.

There's nothing else for us to say or do, but now I'm worried.

What have I just done?

Exhaustion overwhelms me, and I move away from Jane to lay on my chest. She turns to her side and props her head on her hand. I wonder where Charlie has gone for lunch, and almost instantly, I hear the doors to the barn creak open. Then I hear him whistling.

"I hope you two are hungry," he says as he climbs the ladder. "Because I have bought us a feast."

His head pops up from the floor, and I slowly sit up to face him. He steps off the last board of the ladder, carrying four white paper bags and a small cooler. He's dressed in his jeans and sweater, but as soon as he deposits the food, he pushes his shoes off and then pulls his sweater over his head.

"I never knew how slow the people at the steakhouse are until I had to sit and wait on them to make my order," he complains with a smile, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans to pull them off as well.

He's bare beneath the jeans, and his naked form causes blood to rush back into my cock. There's no doubting his effect on me. The smile on his face tells me he can see that he's getting a rise out of me, and he carries the bags and the cooler to the bed.

As soon as we're close, he leans closer to me and kisses me. "You look rested," he comments.

My skin is still kind of damp from the fury I just experienced having sex with Jane, but I don't think he's mad, especially since it looks like he knows that we just fucked before he got back. In fact, it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

"I got you meat and potatoes," he whispers against my lips. "You looked like you needed it. And I brought beer."

Great. Now I'll be full _and_ drunk.

There's no telling what I'll be doing in an hour.

Jane sits up then and pulls her shirt over her head, scooting closer to us and reaching for the bags. Her food is clearly marked, and she opens the container to start eating as Charlie speaks again.

"I, uh, saw your dad, Cullen. He was gettin' food for the rest of your family. I might've asked him what you were doin' for Christmas, and he said you were all going to D.C. for a couple of weeks. When were you going to tell me?"

At first, I think he's mad because of his question, but I look up to see a curious grin on his face. "Well," I say, "he didn't really start making plans until after Thanksgiving. And we weren't talking. I didn't get a chance. But we're going to see some friends of his in Washington D.C. for Christmas. We'll be gone for two weeks."

His grin widens, and even though he doesn't say anything else, he nods and opens his own container to dig into his food.

We all eat quietly, sitting there naked in front of the fireplace, and Jane finishes first, putting her container back in one of the bags and laying back over the bed with her beer. I watch her steadily, gazing over her bare legs and then her hips as the bottom half of her body remains uncovered. The dark hair between her legs has my eyes glued to her, and she laughs softly.

"You know," Charlie says, and I look at him. "I have relatives in D.C. I could always decide I want to go visit 'em for Winter break."

I can't deny how lit up this makes me, and I bite my lip as I smile. "Yeah?"

He nods. "Yeah."

This makes me feel a little better about being away from home for Christmas. Usually I'm depressed, but now I think I might actually like it.

"Aren't you going to tell him the rest of it?" Jane asks from her spot.

I suddenly remember how I asked my mom if Jane could come to D.C. with us a week earlier, and I lift my most innocent eyes to Charlie.

"What's the rest of it?" he asks me.

I bite my lip again. "Jane's coming with us."

He's not conflicted about this like I thought he might be. He actually laughs. "Well, now that might make things a little interesting."

I don't disagree.

Now I just have to think about what this all means.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Still with me? Feel like shouting and maybe throwing something? Bear with me, and you'll know exactly why this happened. Feel like bouncing after you've read this, it's okay. This kinda stuff ain't for everybody. I'll understand. I just want everyone reading to know.<strong>_

_**And another thing, you got an idea of where this is going, let me know. Maybe some of you will be right.**_

_**Second thing, I still have my poll up, asking what story I should post next? It'll be up until at least one of the four stories I'm working on is either finished or close. Go vote!**_

_**See you next time!  
><strong>_


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